Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation announced today that its Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd. (BST), has been awarded a contract, at the end of September, with China Railway Corp. (CRC) to supply 120 CR400AF new Chinese standard high-speed train cars for China’s evolving high-speed rail network. The 120 cars will be configured into five 8-car trainsets and five 16-car trainsets with an operating speed of 350 km/h. The total contract is valued at approximately 2.2 billion CNY ($324 million US, 280 million euro). Bombardier Transportation owns 50% of the shares in BST, which is consolidated by Bombardier Transportation’s partner CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd.
Jianwei Zhang, President, Bombardier Transportation China, said, “We are very proud to be qualified, through the joint venture BST, to supply the new generation of high-speed railway CR400. In China, high-speed trains have changed people’s life dramatically, it helps to close the distance between villages and cities, bridge the gaps between rural and urbans, and speed up the economic growth. CRC is one of Bombardier’s most important customers and also our long term strategic partner. We are confident to deliver high-quality products and work more closely with CRC to further contribute to the Chinese economy.”
BST won this contract to build five 8-car trainsets and five 16-car CR400AF high-speed trains with first delivery in October, and all the delivery by the end of this year. The delivery within three months reflects the confidence the customer has in BST’s high efficiency and competitiveness. That also demonstrates why BST was awarded its first new generation of high-speed train order.
Bombardier Transportation in China is the full solution provider across the entire value chain. From vehicles and propulsion to services and design, Bombardier Transportation in China has six joint ventures, seven wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and more than 7,000 employees. Together, the joint ventures have delivered more than 3,500 railway passenger cars, 580 electric locomotives and over 2,000 metro cars, Monorail, APM (Automated People Mover), and trams to China’s growing urban mass transit markets. Through its joint ventures, Bombardier also provides propulsion and signaling systems to third party metro car builders for use in more than 30 Chinese cities.