Is it true that rail doctors push hundreds of kilograms of instruments every day for 8 kilometers a day?

May 18, 2017, Zhengzhou. Under the scorching sun, on the criss-crossing tracks, there is a group of busy people pushing instruments and working on the rails. Walking, inspecting, marking, repairing, day after day, year after year, repeating the same thing, whether it is windy, rainy, or snowy, we still persevere silently. Flaw detectors, known as rail “B-ultrasound doctors”, are also grass-roots workers who are often active on the front lines of railways. When inspecting rails for flaw, the inspection workers must be highly focused at all times and insist on front-line work without making the slightest mistake. Yesterday, reporters approached the "B-ultrasound doctors" on the rails, visited and listened to the touching stories behind them under a high temperature of 36°C.

The dense rails are so dazzling that people can’t keep their eyes open. Yesterday at 8 o’clock in the morning, more than 40 flaw detectors put on orange work clothes. After taking the roll call, they took two buses respectively. We set out with flaw detection equipment and useful tools. Due to different working locations, the buses have to put down the flaw detectors one after another for work. The reporter followed one of the groups of flaw detection workers and arrived at the destination in about half an hour. They arrived at the site by descending from Zhengzhou North Railway Station. Under the scorching sun, the Zhengzhou North Railway Station was windless and sweltering. There were 14 arrival tracks and 38 marshalling yards during on-site operations. Due to the dense rails, the temperature on the tracks was much higher than the normal temperature. The heat wave hit and shook the train. People can't even open their eyes. After the flaw detection workers lifted the flaw detection equipment from the car, Xu Peng and his colleagues put on their straw hats and started the day's flaw detection operations.

Xu Peng is 41 years old and is a senior flaw detection technician. He pushed the flaw detection instrument, stepping on sleepers and gravel under his feet, and moved forward slowly. Another worker stood on one side to assist him in his work, and would step forward to help when there was a rail fork. The two of them lifted the flaw detector and moved to other rails to continue working. When there is a problem with the rail, Xu Peng will listen carefully, take out the hammer he carries with him, aim it at the rail surface and hit it violently a few times, make a timely judgment, and ask the workers to use white paint to mark the side of the rail. Colleagues from work came over to fix it. During their work breaks, the flaw detectors would also take a few puffs of cigarettes. A Dahe News reporter noticed that there were protective workers standing nearby, holding red and yellow flags in their left hands and walkie-talkies in their right hands. When a train passed by, they would use the horn or walkie-talkie to notify them in advance. At this time, the flaw detection workers would quickly Lift the instrument and move it to a safe area. After the vehicle passes, they return to work. After the trip, their work clothes would often get soaked.

Flaw detection operations generally require two instruments per team, and two people working on each instrument, plus four or five people including protective personnel. During the operation, Xu Peng often carried calls from the walkie-talkie, inviting him to the scene to judge the damage to the rails. "There can be no mistakes in the flaw detection work." The flaw detection workers said frankly that that would cause the rail to break and the consequences would be disastrous. Flaw detectors are required to work conscientiously and remain vigilant at all times to ensure that 100% of the rails are intact.

The inspection and monitoring workshop where Xu Peng works is responsible for all detection tasks of 12,141 welds on the entire 529-kilometer high-speed rail line. "Welding quality, long-term train crushing, weather and other factors will all have an impact on track safety. High-speed trains are fast and accidents can be compared to air crashes." "Smashing pickaxes, changing rails, oiling..." It's all work at the grassroots level. 7 years. In the beginning, whenever Xu Peng saw a flaw detector passing by, he would take a few more glances and cast envious glances. Dreams finally become reality. In 2001, Duanli held an open recruitment, and Xu Peng stood out from many candidates and truly became a flaw detector. According to many flaw detection workers in the bridge construction section, each flaw detection instrument weighs 30 kilograms and weighs more than 100 kilograms after adding water. It must be walked at least 8 kilometers a day. There is no fixed amount of tasks, and you will go home when you finish your work.

Inspection work is not only a physical job but also a mental job. Zhengzhou North Railway Station is the largest train marshalling station in Asia and is known as the "Ten Mile Station". After nearly a hundred years of ups and downs, various "difficult diseases" of rail diseases have gathered. If you don't check carefully, you will not find the problem. Nowadays, as the 350 kilometers per hour standard EMU unit has successfully rolled off the production line and been tested for use, the main skeleton of the "four vertical and four horizontal" high-speed rail has been basically completed, and "China's Speed" has increasingly attracted world attention. Behind the high-speed trains, the safety pressure on railways has increased sharply. Zhengzhou Bureau straddles Longhai, straddles Beijing and Guangzhou, and is located on the Central Plains. As the "rail inspectors" here, flaw detectors are at the forefront of resisting risks.