The building of a high-speed railway is certainly an important achievement in China's economic development. Though there have been many problems since its official launch, such as outages and delays, and the quality of services needs to be further improved, we sincerely hope that after it's been running for a while the high-speed railway will be more punctual and improve its services for passengers.

It is noticeable that there are no seatbelts on high-speed trains, for some reason. Probably it shows confidence in the safety of high-speed trains. But the lack of seabelts has heightened public safety worries.

Seatbelts should be installed on the trains, which run at over 300 kmh under normal circumstances. It would make things safer and cut down on casualties in case of an accident.

Adding seatbelts is a low-cost and efficient measure, and it is better to take such precautions before, rather than after, a real accident occurs.  We shouldn't shut the door after the horse has bolted.

To take more precautionsagainst risks doesn't mean a lack of confidence in the high-speed railway. Rather, it shows more concern for the life and safety of passengers.

This letter was sent to the Global Times by Gao Zhikai, who is a doctor of law and standing director of the Western Returned Scholars Association.