Sep 15, 2011 3:18 PM GMT+0800 China slashed spending on railway construction 50 percent last month as it slowed building work following the nation’s deadliest high-speed train crash.

Spending in August plunged to 33 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) from 65.5 billion yuan a year earlier, based on Ministry of Railways data released today. The eight-month total declined 11 percent to 316.5 billion yuan, the ministry said.

China also cut spending 26 percent in July as it undertakes safety checks and investigates the cause of the July 23 crash near the eastern city of Wenzhou that killed 40 people. China Railway Group Ltd. (390) and China Railway Construction Corp., the nation’s two biggest railway builders, have plunged more than 40 percent since the accident.

China’s rail network is set to reach 120,000 kilometers (75,000 miles) under a 2.8 trillion yuan, five-year investment plan running through 2015. That includes boosting the high-speed network, which opened in 2007, to 16,000 kilometers.