High-speed rail plans slow down in China

The crash, which caused delays on a new Beijing-Shanghai line, was blamed on equipment failures. The incident has embarrassed the communist government and fuelled public anger towards a bullet train network that critics say is dangerous and too costly.

The railway minister promised a nationwide safety inspection and also announced further reductions in the top speed of bullet trains following cuts in April.

“This accident exposed the weaknesses lying in the railway transportation safety and management,” said Sheng Guangzu in comments on the cabinet website.

The announcement adds to signs Beijing is scaling back plans that called for expanding the high-speed network to 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometres) of track by the end of this year and 10,000 miles (16,000 kms) by 2020.

The system is a prestige project for the Communist Party and is meant to showcase China’s growing technological prowess.

But last month’s crash has made it a target for complaints about the human cost of recklessly fast development.

Meanwhile, a state-owned manufacturer said it will suspend production of its CRH380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line while it investigates equipment failures.

China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd gave no details but the official news agency said trains “abnormally stopped” three times because of faulty sensor signals.

The newspaper Shanghai Daily has reported more than 40 breakdowns since late last month but did not say how many involved equipment from the same producer.

Authorities have blamed last month’s fatal crash near the southern city of Wenzhou on a lightning strike that caused one train to stall and a sensor failure that allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it.