Foreign boys learn to drive Chinese trains

On June 5, edinekagu (right) and Theresa (left) were practicing locomotive inspection. &By Ang Lee

On June 5, the students reviewed the workflow under the guidance of the Chinese master. &Photograph by Li Zhangpeng

"My name is idinekaqiu Alem maconnen. I'm from Ethiopia and I'm learning to drive trains in China." On June 5, idinekaqiu introduced himself briefly in less fluent Chinese. He is one of 34 Ethiopian and Djibouti nationals who came to Zhengzhou, China on October 27, 2019 to study the driving technology of electric locomotives. After seven months of theoretical study in Zhengzhou Railway Vocational and technical college, today, edinekaqiu and his companion Theresa Diba are going to learn to drive the train with the train driver of Zhengzhou locomotive section of China Railway Zhengzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese master.

The Addis Ababa Djibouti railway is the railway connecting the capitals of Ethiopia and Djibouti, and the first electrified railway in East Africa. It is constructed by Chinese standards and Chinese equipment. The railway has a total length of 751.7 km, 45 stations and a design speed of 120 km / h. This railway is the representative of China's "going out" railway standard, carrying the hope and yearning of local people for a better life, witnessing the traditional friendship and deep feelings of the Chinese people and the African people, and is of great significance for promoting the construction of the "belt and road". After finishing their studies in China, these foreign students will go to work on the Addis Ababa Djibouti railway.

In order to popularize Chinese culture, Xue Jinqiu, a teacher of Zhengzhou Railway Vocational and technical college, gave the students a Chinese name with the characters in the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Edie kaqiu called himself "Hua Tuo" and Theresa called himself "Guo Jia". "By signal, green light!" "Red light, stop!" "Yellow light, slow down." Every time the locomotive passes a station, "Hua Tuo" and "Guo Jia" learn the working process of Chinese train drivers in a similar way.

"If one converter fails, isolate the corresponding converter, drive the motor by another converter, and the auxiliary inverter enters the redundancy mode to maintain the locomotive operation." Before getting on the train, "Hua Tuo" and "Guo Jia" learned the handling methods of abnormal driving in the passenger transport workshop of Zhengzhou locomotive depot. In order to improve the internship effect of 34 foreign students, Zhengzhou locomotive depot innovated training methods, organized and carried out activities such as pairing of teachers and apprentices, knowledge competition, etc., to help them better understand and master Chinese railway operation rules, operation standards, driving skills, safety items and other knowledge. Zhengzhou locomotive depot also contacted with Zhengzhou Railway Vocational and technical college in advance, and formulated the crew internship plan based on 19 key tasks, such as internship preparation, train following process, train number arrangement, discipline requirements, residence route, personnel handover, epidemic prevention and control, and emergency response. The students are required to measure temperature, alcohol, attendance, protection and crew together with Chinese masters Do not leave the cab without permission to ensure personal safety.

"When we are on duty, we all have to work out a few rules and regulations for them to recite." Wei Peng, a full-time educator in the passenger transport workshop of Zhengzhou locomotive depot, said that the fluency of some students in reciting technical regulations in English can be compared with the old drivers who have run for more than ten years. "They are very studious. Some students have strong learning ability. They ask the teacher to talk more." Xue Jinqiu, their teacher in charge of the class, said that before learning to drive, the school had carried out systematic theoretical training and simulated driving training.

"Chinese master, how powerful!" After the following practice of k742 train between Zhengzhou and Shangqiu, "Guo Jia" gave a thumbs up to the Chinese master.