China halts production on some bullet trains

China has ordered China North Locomotive Rolling Stock (CNR) – one of the country’s two leading train manufacturers – to temporarily stop producing a bullet train model, the first public move to slow the country’s high-speed rail expansion after a deadly collision last month, the Financial Times reported. CNR, a state-owned company, said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange that an automatic safety system on its most advanced train, the CRH380, was working improperly, causing recurrent delays on a new line between Shanghai and Beijing. The company said it would inspect and adapt its bullet trains to ensure “efficiency and punctuality,” but still fulfill outstanding orders for this year. While China had originally planned to expand its total rail line length to 16,000 kilometers by 2020, spending on railways declined 2.1% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2011. The expansion has come under increasing scrutiny after a high-speed train collision near Wenzhou on July 23 that killed 40 people.