Shanghai's metro and train stations are now required to be equipped with cameras and other security inspection systems on the orders of the local security watchdog.

The new regulation is part of a general effort to standardize security systems in important public places. It includes detailed instructions on how the security facilities should be installed in the city's metro network.

For example, color cameras should be installed in metro stations to cover entrances, ticket sales windows, stairways, escalators and waiting halls. Metro trains should also be equipped with color cameras to record any "unusual happenings" inside the trains.

Most management and control rooms at metro stations are to be equipped with burglar alarms, as are trains and locomotives.

Metro stations will be equipped sensors to detect radioactive elements, poisonous gas, flammable and explosive chemical substances, guns, ammunition and other explosive devices.

The regulations also stipulate that cameras installed in and outside metro stations should be able to clearly record people's movements within the inspection area. Human face recognition devices should also be set up in the metro control office.

"The goal of the new security standard is to ensure urban safety and to prevent terrorism," said a source surnamed Ni from the Shanghai municipal bureau of quality and technical supervision (SMBQTS).

Ni said subways are actually a special kind of public area because most of them are underground and relatively closed, but still must accommodate large flows of people, especially in a populous city like Shanghai.

"Shanghai should be the first city in China to issue such a detailed standard concerning metro security installations. So far, China has no national standards especially pertinent to this issue," she told China Daily.

Liu Xiaoxin, an official with the inner security department of the municipal public security bureau, which drafted the new standards, said the equipment to be used will be close to the level used in some developed countries.

"Although there have been no terror attacks in Shanghai's metro stations, appropriate security inspection facilities are necessary to protect the safety of the many passengers riding the metro every day," said Liu.

His department began preparing the draft of the standard two years ago.

Liu said a few cases involving public security issues and crime have occurred at local subways. In January, a passenger accidentally pulled the emergency brake on a running metro train, which shut down the whole line for more than 20 minutes.

" If any attacks occurred in the subways, having a security inspection system will help us pinpoint criminals. Such systems will help protect passengers and reduce the possibility of damage," said Liu.

The standards will take effect on September 1. The SMBQTS said they would be applicable to all new metro stations added to the system. Those existing metro stations and operating trains will be upgraded to meet the standard, said Ni.

Shanghai Shengtong Metro Corporation, which operates the city's metro system, said the company will conform to the standards and would also draw up a renovation schedule for the existing metro stations and trains.

"The security technology is already available for use. What we need to do now is implement the standards effectively," said Liu.

(China Daily May 16, 2007)