With the same force that powered the most ambitious rail programme in history, China has slammed the brakes on its investment in high-speed trains.

　　中国曾经狠踩油门、启动了有史以来最雄心勃勃的铁路发展计划。如今，它以同样大的力度狠踩下了高铁投资的刹车。

　　The sudden halt has led to system-wide whiplash, leaving workers without pay, battalions of heavy machinery sitting idle and setting back plans for bullet trains that were meant to carry the nation’s future.

　　突然暂停投资之举令整个铁路系统遭受重创，工人们领不到工资，大批重型机械闲置一旁，高铁计划被推迟，而这些计划原本希望承载中国的未来。

　　In the farm fields of Bazhou, unfinished pillars and silent cement mixers stand along a gravel path that was designed to be a key link in the high-speed network connecting Tianjin with Baoding. It is now one of the dozens of large rail projects suspended after a crash in July left 40 people dead near the eastern city of Wenzhou. The crash revealed how China had cut corners in its haste to build the world’s biggest bullet train system.

　　在河北霸州的农田里，沿着一条铺满碎石的线路，矗立着未完工的桥墩，水泥搅拌机无声无息的停在一旁。这条线路原本是津保高铁上的重要一环。在7月份温州郊区发生动车追尾事故、造成40人死亡后，这条线路便成为几十个目前暂时停工的大型铁路项目之一。温州动车事故暴露出中国在匆忙打造全球最大高铁系统过程中的急于求成。

　　“Everything is a lot harder. There is no money, so we can’t even pay our workers. And quality checks are extremely strict,” said a crew boss from the China Railway Engineering Corporation, the state-owned enterprise that has laid most of the nation’s rail tracks.

　　国有的中国铁路工程总公司(CREC)的一名施工负责人称：“现在一切都变得困难得多。因为没有钱，我们甚至无法支付工人的工资。而且质检也变得极为严格。”中国的大部分铁路都是该公司建设的。

　　With the broader economy slowing, the government has signalled it might relaunch some of the stalled investment plans as a way of stimulating growth. For now, from a peak of about 600 workers, 20 remain at the Bazhou site, lugging sacks of gravel to pave a service road that will run alongside the track – whenever it is completed. It was the only part of the project that had received approval, according to the crew boss.

　　随着整体经济逐渐放缓，中国政府已表示，可能重启一些遭搁置的投资计划，以提振增长。就目前而言，霸州工地上的工人数量已从峰值时期的约600人减至20人。工人们拖来一袋袋碎石，以便铺设将与这条线路——还不知它何时能完工——并行的侧道。上述施工负责人称，这条侧道是整个项目中唯一获准施工的部分。

　　Wang Mengshu, deputy chief engineer at the China Railway Tunnel Group, told state media last week a shortage of funds had halted the construction of more than 10,000km of track nationwide.

　　中国中铁隧道集团(China Railway Tunnel Group)副总工程师王梦恕上周曾告诉国有媒体，资金短缺已导致全国逾1万公里铁路的建设停工。

　　Without a resumption, the rail industry’s 6m workers would suffer, Mr Wang added.

　　他补充称，如果不复工，铁路行业的600万工人将受到影响。

　　After receiving a torrent of government cash for years, the sudden shortage is new and uncomfortable for China’s tight-knit railway industry.

　　中国的铁路行业自成体系，多年来一直接受政府源源不断的投资，如今突然遭遇资金短缺，令其既感到陌生又不安。

　　Before the Wenzhou accident, high-speed rail had been a source of immense national pride. The country’s first bullet train only started running in 2007 but within four years China had developed the world’s largest high-speed network. The plan was to double the length of the high-speed rail lines by 2020, but confidence has faltered.

　　在温州动车事故之前，高铁曾为中国人带来巨大的民族自豪感。中国的首列动车是在2007年才开始运行的，但短短4年内，中国就建设起了全球规模最大的高铁网络。中国曾计划到2020年时让高铁总里程翻一番，但如今它的信心却不那么足了。

　　“We need seriously to check our designs from the foundations up and pinpoint the flaws. After all, high-speed rail is a new thing,” said Huang Zhiyi, deputy director of the Institute of Transportation Engineering at Zhejiang University, a leading centre for research and development in the Chinese rail industry.

　　浙江大学(Zhejiang University)交通工程研究所(Institute of Transportation Engineering)副所长黄志义表示：“我们需要从基础开始认真检查我们的设计，找出存在的问题。高铁毕竟是个新生事物。”该研究所是中国铁路行业的顶尖研发中心之一。

　　Spending had been slowing after a surge from stimulus money in 2009, but the decline since the Wenzhou crash in July has been precipitous. In year to date terms, investment in railways and transport had been up 7 per cent in the first half of 2011. By the end of September it was down 19 per cent, according to official data.

　　2009年出台的刺激计划导致铁路建设资金急剧增加。在那之后，中国铁路建设支出一直在放缓，但直线下降出现在7月份的温州动车事故之后。今年上半年，铁路和交通投资增长7%。而根据官方数据，今年截至9月底，铁路和交通投资萎缩了19%。

　　There is little chance of a return to the construction frenzy of the past five years but the government appears to be slowly setting the high-speed rail plans back in motion. To do so would provide an immediate boost to the weakening economy. Longer term, it is also expected to encourage a big structural shift, opening up China’s interior to make domestic growth more self-sustaining.

　　中国眼下几乎不可能重新上演过去5年里的建设狂潮。但中国政府似乎正在缓慢重启高铁计划。这样做能够给中国正在放缓的经济带来的立竿见影的提振效果。中长期而言，它应该还会促成重大的结构性转变，增加中国内陆地区的开放程度，增强国内增长的自我持续性。

　　Beijing’s first task has been to appease investors. Concerns about the railway ministry’s fast-growing debt – Rmb2,100bn ($330bn) and counting – and tight monetary conditions had combined with the crash to damage market sentiment, forcing the ministry to put off plans to raise capital.

　　中国政府首先要做的是安抚投资者。铁道部的债务已达2.1万亿元人民币（合3300亿美元），而且还在迅速增长。投资者对这一债务和偏紧货币环境的担忧，再加上温州动车事故对市场信心造成的不利影响，迫使铁道部不得不推迟融资计划。

　　To break the logjam, the finance ministry said this month it would cut taxes by half on interest earned from railway bonds issued between now and 2013. That smoothed the way for the sale of Rmb20bn in debt, with more on the way. The State Council has also ordered banks to extend more loans to the railway ministry.

　　为了摆脱这一困境，中国财政部本月表示，将对现在至2013年发行的铁路建设债券的利息收入减半征税。这为铁道部发行200亿元人民币债券、以及未来发行更多债券铺平了道路。中国国务院还指示银行向铁道部发放更多贷款。

　　But Beijing must also address concerns among the public. Passenger numbers have fallen sharply since the Wenzhou crash. About 151m trips were made on Chinese trains in September, almost 30m fewer than in July, according to ministry data.

　　但除此之外，中国政府还必须化解公众的担忧。自温州动车事故以来，铁路旅客数量大幅下滑。根据铁道部的数据，9月份中国铁路客运发送量约为1.51亿人次，比7月份减少了将近3000万人次。

　　Beyond ordering a thorough safety review, however, Beijing has shown little appetite for fundamental change. The concrete plants next to the Bazhou track have not been dismantled. Their doors have only been padlocked and are waiting to be reopened.

　　不过，除了下令进行彻底的安全检查外，中国政府对彻底改革铁路行业几乎没有流露出任何兴趣。霸州段铁路旁的水泥厂并没有被拆除，它们只是大门上了锁，正等待复工。