China will gradually resume the operation of 54 bullet trains previously recalled over safety concerns following a fatal high-speed train crash in July, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said Monday.

Bullet services to 'stay slow' during checks.[File photo]

"After a three-month process of modifications and repeated tests, previously reported problems with the CRH 380BL trains have all been fixed. Operations will gradually resume starting from Wednesday," an MOR official told Xinhua under the condition of anonymity.

Six of the 54 recalled trains will resume service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway on Wednesday, according to the official.

"If everything goes well, all the recalled trains will resume service by Dec. 6," he said, without providing further information.

China's state-owned train maker, China CNR Corp. (CNR), announced on Aug. 12 the recall of 54 trains it supplied for the high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai. The trains, all CRH 380BL models, were to be investigated for equipment failure and modified accordingly.

The company's CRH 380BL trains were built based on technology used in Siemens CRH3 trains.

The recall came three weeks after 40 people were killed and nearly 200 others injured in a high-speed train crash near the city of Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang Province, an incident which triggered public fury in China.

Preliminary investigations showed the accident was caused by serious design flaws in railway signaling equipment, as well as loopholes in railway safety management.

The recalled trains were not the same model as was involved in July's crash. The two trains involved in the collision were assembled by two subsidiaries of CSR Corp., another Chinese train manufacturer.

However, the recall was part of the government's efforts to soothe the public's concerns about the safety of high-speed train service, which has been plagued by a series of power outages and blackouts.

The country also launched nationwide safety checks on its high-speed railways from mid-August to mid-September to "thoroughly eliminate risks" concerning high-speed railways and "effectively prevent and resolutely curb" major railway accidents.

Before CNR's recall, the Beijing-based company had decided to suspend the delivery of the CRH 380BL trains, citing flaws in the model's automatic braking systems.

CNR blamed the problems on quality defects with outsourced parts and components, without naming the manufacturers in question.

As of 1:20 p.m. on Monday, CNR shares climbed 1.38 percent to 5.16 yuan (about 0.82 U.S. dollars).

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