<p>In a first major malfunction since its launch on June 30, nineteen trains on the Beijing-Shanghai rail link came to a standstill for nearly 90 minutes yesterday, railway authorities said.<br /><br />The trains which usually cover a distance of 1,318-kms in about five hours arrived late by several hours, invoking angry reactions from passengers.<br /><br />Several microbloggers, who were present in the train during the incident, wrote about their harrowing experience during the journey on the internet.<br /><br />"The light is off, air conditioning is off, carriage is stifling, and there is a lack of oxygen," netizen Susan Chen wrote in her microblog.<br /><br />In another blog, passenger Banalin said: "after waiting in the sweltering carriages for more than half an hour, passengers began to lose patience and became agitated."<br />Another passenger wrote that the public address system on the train kept explaining that the breakdown was due to the heavy rain.<br /><br />Another passenger 'Wang' said some 1,000 passengers sat in the darkness and air conditioners were not working during that time.After running for 20 minutes, the train stopped again.<br /><br />"Almost all the facilities in the train were out of service. We were very hungry and could not even grab a cup of water. It was terrible," she said, the state run China Daily reported.<br /><br />The accident has increased safety concerns about the landmark railway, which was launched one year ahead of its schedule.<br /><br />A publicity official with the Ministry of Railways said that the delay were to ensure passenger safety.<br /><br />There were similar incidents in 2007, the first year that China started to use bullet trains.<br />Still, many microbloggers said they would not choose high-speed trains after this incident, as punctuality and the ability to operate regardless of the weather were meant to be its advantages.</p>
<p>In a first major malfunction since its launch on June 30, nineteen trains on the Beijing-Shanghai rail link came to a standstill for nearly 90 minutes yesterday, railway authorities said.<br /><br />The trains which usually cover a distance of 1,318-kms in about five hours arrived late by several hours, invoking angry reactions from passengers.<br /><br />Several microbloggers, who were present in the train during the incident, wrote about their harrowing experience during the journey on the internet.<br /><br />"The light is off, air conditioning is off, carriage is stifling, and there is a lack of oxygen," netizen Susan Chen wrote in her microblog.<br /><br />In another blog, passenger Banalin said: "after waiting in the sweltering carriages for more than half an hour, passengers began to lose patience and became agitated."<br />Another passenger wrote that the public address system on the train kept explaining that the breakdown was due to the heavy rain.<br /><br />Another passenger 'Wang' said some 1,000 passengers sat in the darkness and air conditioners were not working during that time.After running for 20 minutes, the train stopped again.<br /><br />"Almost all the facilities in the train were out of service. We were very hungry and could not even grab a cup of water. It was terrible," she said, the state run China Daily reported.<br /><br />The accident has increased safety concerns about the landmark railway, which was launched one year ahead of its schedule.<br /><br />A publicity official with the Ministry of Railways said that the delay were to ensure passenger safety.<br /><br />There were similar incidents in 2007, the first year that China started to use bullet trains.<br />Still, many microbloggers said they would not choose high-speed trains after this incident, as punctuality and the ability to operate regardless of the weather were meant to be its advantages.</p>