US transport systems progress could be delayed due to Chinese ‘spying rail car’

Monday, January 14, 2019

As per a Chinese railway expert the Chinese-made subway cars might spy on the US politicians and lead to delay in progress in US rail transportation.

Addressing concerns the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) said that it has robust controls to maintain the security of its system and that the subway cars made by a Chinese rolling stock producer can be used for espionage.

Earlier a newspaper did a story that raised concerns regarding subway cars made by State-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) might conduct a surveillance of the US officials when they ride the liens.

It can secretly record sensitive conversations and give scope for hackers.

Sun Zhang, a railway expert and professor at Shanghai Tongji University mentioned that the Hollywood spy thriller-like allegations are groundless and arise from a growing momentum by the US to check China’s leading industries. Railway industry to telecom equipment are all being tapped.

After less than a month the report of the completion of production of a pair of subway cars in the US factory in US factory in Springfield City, Massachusetts came by CRRC.

MBTA is the owner of the pair of next-generation rail cars built to replace cars serving the Orange Line of Boston.

MBTA has robust controls in place to maintain the security of the system while the safety of the T’s (nickname for the Boston region transit authority) was of prime importance.

There were further mentions that no software components for the new cars were produced in China having stringent controls in the rail cars’ design process. Apart from that it also manages the implementation of all connected vehicle components.

Through an overall system safety analysis the cyber –security hazards will be examined as per the US Department of Defense’s Military System Safety Standard.

However another media said that the concerns were similar to the fear of giving up eating due to the consequence of choking.

It is normal to have connected systems like the surveillance cameras and sensors and denying such technologies will only delay the progress of the US in this specific field.

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