China News Service, Zhaoqing, February 17th: Title: Road crossing worker Liang Ming’s 25th Spring Festival travel
Author Cheng Sijia Zhou Jian Guo Jun
"Freight trains approached the Qiaodong crossing 45,192 times." At 12:00 on February 16, Liang Ming, a 50-year-old crossing worker, received a call from the driver ahead. He quickly walked out of the duty room with a red and yellow signal flag and closed the crossing gate.
"There are no foreign objects on the nearby railway tracks, and no one is staying on the roadbed..." Liang Ming looked serious and muttered as he carefully checked the area around the crossing.
"Freight train 45192 times, the east crossing of the bridge is normal and can pass safely." After everything was confirmed, Liang Ming returned to the post to pick up the train, paying close attention to the vehicles and pedestrians on the highway.
A few minutes later, train 45192, fully loaded with goods, roared past the crossing.
Liang Ming is a crossing worker in the Xiaotang Crossing Work Area of the Sanshui Line Workshop of the Zhaoqing Public Works Section of the Guangzhou Railway Group. The crossing is located in the center of the city. More than 60 trains pass through the crossing every day, and an average of more than 400 cars pass through it every hour. , is one of the busiest crossings in Guangmao Line Pipeline.
Liang Ming was standing guard at the crossing to pick up the car. Photo courtesy of Guangzhou Railway Group
During the Spring Festival travel season, the density of people and vehicles on the highway further increases. Lookout, transfer notification, clearing the crossing, closing the gate, inspection, picking up the train, confirming safety, opening the gate... Every time the train passes through the crossing, Liang Ming always repeats these tasks in strict accordance with the operating standards, guarding the crossing. Safety for passing pedestrians and trains. Since Liang Ming started working as a crossing worker, he has prevented a total of 60 accidents and achieved no slow-moving or above safety accidents at the crossing.
"Beep beep", the train was about to pass, and the gate at the crossing slowly closed. Liang Ming quickly blew the whistle in his mouth and kept waving his hands to signal the two pedestrians who wanted to jump over the gate to retreat.
"Happy New Year, brother, you can't get ahead of yourself. The train is coming soon. Our safety comes first." Liang Ming quickly stepped forward to explain.
"Many drivers and pedestrians don't understand. They think that the gate is closed before the train arrives, which delays time." When encountering this kind of thing, Liang Ming always smiles and explains patiently.
The work of crossing workers is boring and stressful. During work, they are not allowed to chat with others, read newspapers or listen to the radio, and are not allowed to turn off the bell or phone without authorization. The day shift and night shift start over and over again. "I wasn't used to it at first, but I got used to it as I worked." Liang Ming worked an 8-hour shift and had to close the gate, pick up the car, and open the gate hundreds of times. During the Spring Festival travel rush, the traffic volume increases, so you can only use the intervals between trains to eat and use the toilet. It takes an hour to finish a simple lunch, and you have to stand guard to pick up 4 to 5 trains in the middle.
“Safety is the most important thing during the holidays.” Liang Ming said that this job may seem simple, but the safety responsibility is huge, and the sense of responsibility must not be lost at all.
Liang Ming has been working at Daokou for 25 years. Due to the nature of the job at Daokou, he has not been able to have New Year's Eve dinner with his family for 8 years.
"If a family is not a family, a family is a family. Looking at the passengers on the train and the pedestrians and vehicles passing through the crossing safely, I really feel a sense of accomplishment!" Liang Ming said with a smile. (over)