FLASH: China's Wari railway begins 20-day maintenance, trimming coal traffic

China Railway Taiyuan Group, the operator of railway network of North China's Shanxi province, has started a 20-day autumn maintenance on the Watang-Rizhao (Wari) railway starting September 4, state media Xinhua News Agency reported. The maintenance will suspend rail transportation on this critical artery for the country's west-to-east coal transportation for three hours each day.

The 1,260-kilometer heavy-haul rail line runs from Shanxi's Watang town, through Central China's Henan province, to Rizhao port in East China's Shandong province, with coal accounting for more than 80% of its freight volume. The Wari line moved a total of 100.07 million tonnes of freight in 2025, marking the