[Going to the grassroots in the New Year] Keep your last shift of the high-speed rail line ＂Minesweeper＂ Lao Cao’s Spring Festival travel rush diary

　　Another year in Spring Festival travel rush, the staff of the railway system ushered in the most tense and busy moment of the year. It is the wish of every railway person to send every passenger home safely and comfortably. With the popularity of high-speed rail in recent years, "safe, comfortable and fast" high-speed rail has become the first choice for people to travel safely. This simple six-word evaluation is not so easy to do, and there are countless railway people behind it to make a comfortable experience for passengers. The responsibility of the 54-year-old high-speed rail passenger Lao Cao is to ensure the absolute safety of the high-speed rail line. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Lao Cao (Cao Huipeng), who has more than ten years’ experience in high-speed rail works, was transferred from high-speed rail maintenance foreman to an additional passenger of high-speed rail EMU five years ago, and was responsible for checking possible safety hazards in high-speed rail lines every morning. The specific duty is to take a "exploring car" (also known as a confirmation car) at dawn every day before the first train of the high-speed rail line in charge to confirm whether the equipment of the line is normal and whether the line condition meets the operating conditions of the high-speed rail. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Less than 4 o’clock in the morning, when the workers who finished the line maintenance had not returned to the dormitory to rest, Lao Cao had taken his work equipment and went to Beijing South Railway Station to start his day’s work. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　There are almost no passengers at the station in the early morning. Every day when Lao Cao works, he will be the first person to arrive at the station in the Tim Cheng group. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　After arriving at the station, Lao Cao will take a selfie and send it to the work group, and report to the dispatcher at the back by phone, telling him that he has been on standby at the station to start work. In the past five years, when he became a high-speed train EMU to confirm the addition of passengers, the self-portrait of the station in the early morning became the most numerous type of photos in his mobile phone. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Lao Cao’s job today is to confirm the route of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway from Beijing South Railway Station to Tianjin West Railway Station. The departure time of the first bus on that day was 6: 36 in the morning, while the departure time of the confirmed bus that Lao Cao took was around 5: 10. The passengers on this bus were only the driver, the mechanic, the public works confirmed the addition of passengers (Lao Cao) and the power supply confirmed the addition of passengers. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　The first thing to do after getting on the train is to debug the portable line inspection instrument. Lao Cao needs to visually inspect the line during the train running. This machine will provide signal feedback on different road sections, and there will be alarm prompts on problematic road sections to provide data basis for line confirmation. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Portable line inspection instrument, high-definition camera, video recorder and special mobile phone are indispensable tools for Lao Cao every working day. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　After reporting to the dispatcher, it is confirmed that the train will start. Because the cab of the high-speed train EMU is streamlined, it is impossible to accurately observe the line except for the driver’s position. Therefore, in the process of work, the tall old Cao can only stand in the driver’s cab with this posture of "standing half-bent and unable to sit down", plus the need for high concentration at work, and that kind of hardship can only be realized by himself. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　During the driving process, Lao Cao’s eyes are always fixed on the track. At a speed of nearly 300 kilometers per hour, Lao Cao should observe whether there are foreign objects in the track area, whether the peripheral equipment such as bridge fences and noise barriers along the way are damaged, and whether the construction around the railway affects the driving. Occasionally, he will look down to see if the portable line checker will have alarm light feedback. At the same time, in the process of increasing the speed of the train, Lao Cao also needs to feel the shaking of the train with his body to judge whether there is a safety hazard. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Because high-speed trains will be added at night in Spring Festival travel rush, many "skylight points" that could have been checked and no trains passed have been cancelled or compressed. Therefore, it is more important to confirm the inspection of train routes. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　At about 5: 45 in the morning, it was confirmed that the car arrived at Tianjin West Railway Station. Lao Cao quickly packed his personal equipment and left the carriage. At the same time, he immediately took out his work mobile phone and contacted the command center to report the line situation. At this time, it is only about half an hour before the first bus of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway starts on that day. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　Back to the office of the work area, Lao Cao will immediately transfer the data collected by the equipment on that day to the computer. At this point, Lao Cao’s routine work will be over every day, but during his stay in Spring Festival travel rush, Lao Cao will continue to be on standby. In case of unexpected situations, such as bad weather such as rain and snow, Lao Cao will also have a temporary boarding task. In his memory, he once slept for three hours within 48 hours. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo

　　The 54-year-old Cao will retire in April, which is the last time he participated in Spring Festival travel rush. Lao Cao, who entered the railway system in 1988, can be said to have witnessed the development of high-speed rail in China. From the lineman to the crew, Lao Cao has experienced the whole process from the joint commissioning and trial to the opening of the Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail lines.

　　This year is his 32nd Spring Festival travel rush and his last Spring Festival travel rush. He can’t remember how many times he paved the way for the EMUs that flew by the Beijing-Tianjin intercity and Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail lines. I only remember that this is my own job, which is related to the travel safety of hundreds of millions of passengers, and I must not make any mistakes.

　　"To tell you the truth, it’s really a little reluctant to retire soon. Now I haven’t thought about what to do after retirement. Let’s stand on this last shift first, so that so many passengers can get home safely and smoothly, which is what we are most gratified as railway people." Lao Cao also said that he should be able to finish his work at noon on New Year’s Eve this year, and he can accompany his family to eat the second Spring Festival reunion dinner since he went to work in the railway in the evening. China Net reporter Zheng Liang photo