RR SERVICES; LINES INCREASE; REPORTS SABOTAGE ON CANTON LINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600340876-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 876
• Publication Date: September 27, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/17: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600340876-2
CONFIDENT 3N}IDENTIQ :
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
SUBJECT Transportation - Rail
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED China
DATE
PUBLISHED 11 Jul - 29 Aug 1950
OF 1815 T HE DOCUMENT UNITED STATES S I WITHIN A TINE MEAN N10 NG OF TNEEMAT10 AL DEFENSE
U C C CON M0 fit. AS AMENDED ITS TRANSMISSIOII OM THE REVELATION
Of ITS TE NTYIN ANT MANNER TO AM UNAUTNORIE ED PERSON IS PRO'
NIOITE0 BT LAW. REPR000CTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED
SOURCE
CD NO.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. ~,j Sep 1950
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
RR SERVICES LINES INCREASE;
REPORTS SABOTAGE ON CANTON LINE
RR TO HANDLE CUSTOMS FOR PATRONS -- Shanghai Ta Kung Pao, 12 Jul 50
Shanghai -- The Shanghai Railroad Bureau Traffic Department has announced
that beginning 12 July 1950 it will take care of, on behalf of its patrons,
the required procedures for getting shipments of goods through customs. This,
however, is only one phase of the service which the Railroad Traffic Department
is prepared to render, Also included are the following-.
Foii imported goods, the railroad will, on behalf of its patrons only,
prepare and handle customs import applications, make payment of customs dues
and any other required taxes or fees, receive goods from ships and transport
them to the railroad freight station and arrange for rail transportation.
For goods to be exported, the railroad will, on behalf of its patrons,
pick up goods that have arrived at the Shanghai railroad station, store them
in a warehouse if necessary, take them through customs, including advance
payment of customs dues and other required fees, present customs clearance
papers to the shipping companies, arrange for marine transportation, put car-
goes aboard ships, secure bills of lading, and attend to all other incidental
matters.
When shippers apply to the Railroad Traffic Department for the above-
mentioned services, besides filling out the application forms completely,
they must, in the case of imported foreign goods, supply the bills of lading,
original bills of sale, insurance papers, and import permits. In the case of
native.goods from some other domestic port, a copy of the customs' export per-
mit,of the,port of origin must be submitted, together with a receipt for pay-
ment of customs dues, etc., and a bill of lading. In the case of goods for
export, an invoice, cleared internal revenue certificate, foreign exchange cer-
tificate, and bill of lading must be submitted.
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DISTRIBUTION
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YELLOW RIVER RR BRIDGE BEING STRENGTHENED -- Hong Kong Hsing-tao Jih-pao,
9 Aug 50
Cheng-chou, 28 July -- After liberation by the CCF, the Cheng-chou Railway
Bureau was busy repairing the Peiping-Hankow line for the transportation of the
CCF to South China and was therefore unable to make the extensive repairs needed
on the Yellow River bridge:. In November 1949, after 'careful inspection by ex-
pert Soviet railroad engineers, it was found practicable not only to repair the
bridge for use for a further 5 or 10 years, but also to strengthen it enough to
permit heavier loads to be carried at higher speeds, The first repairs were un-
dertaken in accordance with plans adopted at a conference held 27 December 1949
to 5 January 1950 As a result, it was found possible for a train of 1,270
metric tons, drawn by three small locomotives, to cross the bridge in 13 min-
utes at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour.
The second stage of repairs was begun on 20 May 1950. They have pro-
gressed to the point where four test runs on bridge span No 100 have been made
with Mogul locomotive No 728 at speeds of 3, 5, 10 and i5 kilometers per hour.
On the second and fourth test runs, the speed was accelerated while on the
span. On the fourth test run, the speed of the driving wheels was from 50 to
53 revolutions per minute. From these tests, it appears that when the second
stage of repairs are completed, within an estimated 100 days, it will be pos-
sible for trains drawn by heavy Mogul locomotives to run at from 15 to 20 kilo-
meters per hour,
FREQUENT DERAILMENTS ON CANTON-HANKOW LINE -- Hong Kong Hsing-tao Jih-pao,
11 Aug 50
Canton, 10 August -- Four derailments and one grade-crossing collision
between 28 July and 2 August, on lines under the control of the Canton Branch
Railroad Bureau, reveal the excessive frequency of accidents on these lines.
Brief particulars concerning these accidents follow:
1 On 28 July at 1225 hours, an accident occurred to southbound freight
train No 473 on the Canton-Hankow line between Lei-chia-tu and Ssu-kung-k'eng
(about 780 kilometers south of the Wu-ch'ang east station). Three cars left
the track.. Traffic was not resumed until 1020 hours on 29 July.
2. Or. 30 July at 0618 boom , on the Canton.--Chiu-lung line, at the ap-
proach to the Canton west station, a grade crossing accident involving a mo-
torbus occurred.. The gate at the crossing was open due to the absence of
the gatetender,
3., On 31 July at 0011 hours, near the Sha-k'ou station, 918 kilometers
from Wu-ch'ang, the last 13 cars of freight train No 2459 left the tracks.
Traffic was resumed at 1710 hours of the same day.
4. On 1 August at 1208, southbound train No 2461 with 32 freight cars
on the Canton-Hankow line, at a point near Ying-te 952 kilometers from Wu-
ch'ang, encountered trouble. Twelve cars in the middle of the train left
the track and turned over. Traffic was resumed at 1300 hours on 2 August.
5. On 2 August, at 1620 hours, westbound passenger train No 64 had a
serious accident between Hsien-ts'un and Shih-t'an about 50 kilometers east
of Canton. The tender and one baggage car left the tracks, one 3d-class
coach left the tracks and rolled into the ditch, two 3d-class and four 2d-
class coaches left the tracks. Traffic was not resumed until after 3 August.
In the case of the grade-crossing accident, the principal blame was placed
on the bus driver, since although the gates were not down, the bus driver ig-
nored the red flag signals of a switchman standing near the track where the ac-
cident occurred.
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7
In the other cases, the causes of the accidents appear to have been the
poor condition of the road bed and tracks, such as spread rails, loose rails,
rails out of alignment, loose tamping of ballast especially around newly re-
placed ties, and unevenness of track causing excessive swaying of cars, es-
pecially of those with unbalanced loading.
SABOTAGE FREQUENT ON HANKOW-CANTON LINE -.. Hong Kong Hsing-tao Jih-pao,
29 Aug 50
Canton, 28 August -- The Hankow-Canton Railroad and the Canton--Chiu-
lung Railroad, in the vicinity of Canton, are constantly experiencing de-
railments, explosions on bridges, thefts of telegraph wires and other kinds
of damage, some of which are clearly acts of sabotages Consequently, Lei
T .eh-ming, chief of the Canton Branch Railroad Bureau, recently convened a
conference for the specific purpose of considering definite means for coping
with these disturbing occurrences. As a result of the conference, measures
of improvement were taken by the railroad staff, and the police and garrison
forces along the railroads were requested to exercise greater vigilance in
patroling the lines and in arresting actual or potential saboteurs.
NEW RAILROAD FARES FROM SHANGHAI -- Shanghai Ta Kung Pao, 11 Jul 50
Shanghai -,- The Shanghai Railroad Bureau, acting on orders from the Min-
istry of Railways, has announced a new scale of fares to go into effect on
15 July 1950, Fares for hard-seat accommodations on ordinary trains are to
be computed at the rate of 105 yuan per kilometer. No differentiation in
charges is to be made between distances in north and south China, Fares for
soft-seat accommodations are double those for hard-seat accommodations. Fares
on fast trains are approximately 21 percent greater than on ordinary trains.
In hard-seat sleeping cars there are lower, middle, and upper berths; in soft-
seat sleeping cars there are only lower and upper berths.
Hard Seat Fares From Shanghai (in yuan)
Destination
Ordinary Trains
Nanking
31,400
Hangchow
20,000
Nan-ch'ang
73,300
Chu-thou
96,000
Canton
127,900
Tientsin East
105,000
Peiping
112,400
Sleeping Cars per Person per Night (in yuan)
39, 400
24,200
88,900
115,400
153,600
126,500
134,900
Upper Berth
Middle Berth
Lower Berth
Hard-seat cars
17,000
21,600
28,800
Soft-seat cars
43,200
--
57,600
The charge for a set of blankets and linen for use in sleeping cars is 5,000
yuan per person per night.
The charge for baggage not in excess of 50 kilograms per adult passenger,
or 30 kilograms per child, is at the rate of one yuan per kilogram per kilometer.
This works out at a charge per kilogram from Shanghai to destination as follows:
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Nanking 299, Hangchow 190, Nan-ch'ang 734, Chu-chou 1,003, Canton 1,448,
Tientsin East 31.36, Peiping )232. Excess baggage is charged for at the rate
of 4 yuan per kilogram per kilometer. Articles for shipment by parcel serv-
ice are divided into four classes, as indicated below. The rate for Class I
articles is 4 yuan per kilogram per kilometer. LThe rates for the other
classes of articles is not given`? The classification of articles is as fol-
lows-
Class I, Ordinary articles, excluding articles in Class II or Class IV.
Class II, Perishables and living creatures,
Class III, Special rate articles, i.,e,, newspapers, magazines, and po-
ii.t1cal propaganda printed matter.
Class IV.. Motion-picture films, projectors, cameras, and accessories,
costumes and properties used in dramatic propaganda (provided the custodians
have valid certificates covering such articles issued by the Motion-Picture
Section of the Ministry of Culture of the Central government); books, ordinary
printed matter, dried dates, and dried persimmons? All articles in Class IV
are charged at the same rate as those in Class II.
PROPOSE TO BUILD RR IN KWANGTUNG -- Hong Kong Hsiang-tao Jih-pao, 29 Aug 50
Chung-shan, 28 August -- Since construction of a highway connecting Shih-
ch,i, Chung-shan Hsien, directly with Canton, is so large an undertaking that
it cannot be realized for a long time, the merchants of Shih-ch'i now propose
to raise funds to construct a railroad from Shih-ch'i to Chiang-men, in Hsin-
hui Hsien, reaching the latter point by ferrying across the Wai-hai channel.
This line would be very important, for it would make it possible for
travelers from Chung-shan and Macao to reach Canton via railway from Shih-
ch'i to Chiang-men and thence by highway from Chiang-men via Fo-shan (Nan-
hai). From Chaing-men, by the highway from Hsin-hui to K'ai-ping, it is
possible to reach San-fou (the three neighboring cities of Hsin-ch'ang, Ch'ang-
sha and Ti-hai), From San.fou travelers may proceed southeastward to T'ai-
shan; or southwestward to Yang-chiang, Yang-ch'un and the Lei-chou peninsular;
or go northward via Hsin-hsing to Chao-ch'ing (Kao-yao)o
CONFIDENTIAL
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