Chinese rail authorities said they would stop more high-speed rail services, just as a magazine published claims that a big safety flaw had been discovered on a bullet train made by a state-owned firm. The news adds to concerns over the safety of China's high-speed rail network, which has been dogged by controversy ever since the July 23 collision of two bullet trains killed at least 40 people and left nearly 200 injured.
The Shanghai Railway Station announced that 18 trains running on high-speed rail links - including the new one between Beijing and Shanghai - would be suspended from August 28. The suspension was due to rescheduling issues, it said in a statement on Sunday, without elaborating. Since the crash, authorities have ordered trains on newly-built fast lines to go slower, impacting the network's timetable. On Monday, the respected Caixin Century Magazine reported that workers found a 7.1-millimetre-long (0.28-inch-long), 2.4-millimetre-tall crack last month on the axle of a train made by China CNR Corp - a claim the firm promptly denied.