Their working lives followed parallel tracks from ground-level jobs to powerful positions as railway executives – and now to corruption charges that probably permanently derailed their careers.

The most recent of these three career train wrecks came February 12, when news surfaced that China's Railways Minister Liu Zhijun, who also served as the ministry's Communist Party secretary, was at the center of a financial fraud investigation.

(Liu Zhijun)

Liu, 58, was dismissed a few days later after nearly eight years in office. He was replaced by Sheng Guangzu, a former director of the General Administration of Customs.