Siemens Wins Chinese High-Speed Rail Contract

Siemens has signed a contract with Chinese rail firms for the supply of 100 high-speed trains in a deal worth €750m.

The deal was signed between Siemens, Railway Vehicles Co (TC), Changchun Railway Vehicles Co (CRC) and the Chinese Academy of Railways (CARS)

The order includes the first trains for the 16,000km high-speed line between Bejing and Shanghai that is expected to be open by 2020.

The Ministry of Railways is planning to procure around 1,000 high-speed trains within the next few years, most of which will be capable of operating in the over 300km/h speed range.

CEO of Siemens mobility division, Hans-Jörg Grundmann said that the Beijing–Shanghai route would be the most important high-speed line in the country.

"Counting the Chinese models, Siemens has already sold over 200 Velaro trains and has secured five of the last six contracts on the high-speed rail market over 300km/h with this multiple-unit concept," said Grundmann.

Seventy of the new-generation high-speed trains will be built in Tangshan, China, and 30 of them at CRC in Changchun, China. The Siemens share of the contract includes the supply of components such as electrical equipment and bogies to TC and CRC, the Chinese partners in the project.

The new train models will be a development of the successfully operating CRH 3 high-speed train. The CRH 3 is based on the Velaro, the Siemens platform for high-speed trains.

A train unit will have a total of 16 cars and accommodate approximately 1,060 passengers. The total length of 400m means that the new model will be the world's longest single train in use in the area of high-speed transportation.

By Daniel Garrun.