Train Exports on Track

　　China’s high-speed railway exports have a competitive edge in cost， safety， technology and management

　　To China’s largest locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer， the past two months have seen business soar as large orders from across the globe came pouring in.

　　CSR Corp. Ltd. announced on October 28 that it had signed a deal with the Indian New Delhi Gurgaon south extension line for 21 trains， which is the third deal made with India by CSR. The first train for the Gurgaon south extension line will be launched before March 20， 2015， and all trains will be delivered for testing before September 2015.

　　A week previously， CSR announced that its subsidiary CSR Zhuzhou Institute Co. Ltd. had received an order for 800 elastic components for 50 high-speed trains in Italy. This order makes CSR the biggest supplier of elastic components to the European rail traffic market.

　　On September 16， CSR announced a deal with the Malaysian Ministry of Transport， for an order of 10 trains of 60 new inter-city electric multiple units (EMUs) which have a maximum speed of 160 km per hour. As per the contract， the first train will be delivered in 24 months， with the remainder of the order to be completed within 33 months. This is the second export order of upgraded inter-city EMUs to Malaysia since 2010.

　　After the much publicized train crash in Wenzhou， Zhejiang Province two years ago， China’s train exports suffered a period of stagnation. The upswing in the CSR’s export orders indicates the industry is making a comeback.

　　Hi-tech trains

　　Established in December 2007， CSR is a state-owned enterprise engaged in independent development， manufacturing and standard service of locomotives， passenger carriages， freight wagons， multiple units， rapid transit vehicles and related components.

　　Going public on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges in August 2008， Beijing-based CSR now has 19 wholly-owned or controlling subsidiaries in 11 provinces and municipalities across the country， and nearly 90，000 employees.

　　In China， there are two companies engaged in the research and development， as well as the design and manufacturing of high-speed trains—CSR and China CNR Corp. Ltd. According to figures provided by the two companies， CSR has achieved rapid growth in train exports， surpassing CNR in research and development， as well as manufacturing top-quality trains for all geographic conditions.

　　According to CSR’s news releases， the trains designed for the New Delhi Gurgaon south extension line use corrosion-resistant， high strength and light aluminum alloy materials. Each railway compartment can save 20，000 kWh of power every year compared to similar trains， which is significant for India with its short power supply.

　　These trains are also in line with the “green and smart” trend and future development direction of the industry. It adopts a smart “double insurance” design for its door control， braking and signal systems， and light controls. These trains are compatible with other railway systems， too.

　　In consideration of the long operating distances， between stations and higher speeds， the designers of trains sold to Malaysia made improvements in vehicle safety， environment protection performance and human-oriented design， making it a more comfortable top-end inter-city EMU. All basic facilities have been furnished， such as a bar， toilets (including some that are disability accessible) and large-size luggage racks for long-distance tours.

　　Safety features are prioritized on the train， with fire alarm systems， cameras in each car and a double-redundancy braking system effectively ensuring safe operation of the train at high speeds.

　　The designers also developed technology providing an uninterrupted power supply， thus ensuring proper operation of onboard TV and air conditioning systems. Onboard 4G signal from transmitters can cover all six cars giving passengers access to free Internet， while GPS has been installed on the train for station reporting. These functions are currently unavailable on any high-speed trains， subway trains and locomotives in China.

　　Safety first

　　At present， only a few countries in the world—such as Germany， France， Japan and China—have developed high-speed rail technology. China， which is making the most rapid advances in high-speed rail， has the world’s largest high-speed network in operation. Most of the achievements come from CSR and CNR’s research and development.

　　The Chinese Government is encouraging CSR and CNR， with their high-speed railway technologies， to develop overseas markets. When visiting Thailand in October， Premier Li Keqiang went out of his way to promote China’s high-speed railway exports.

　　Li Hongchang， associate professor of the School of Economics and Management of Beijing Jiaotong University， said that compared with other countries， China’s high-speed rail technologies have outstanding advantages.

　　The biggest advantage is the low cost. The engineering cost of Chinese developed high-speed rail is 130 million yuan ($21.17 million) per km， and the total cost， including management fees and resettlement costs， stand at about 200 million yuan ($32.57 million) per km， only one third or half of the comparable costs from overseas companies.

　　Moreover， China’s high-speed railway technologies are held by CSR and CNR， therefore when exporting trains， China can offer packaged services including technology. This is difficult for foreign countries to compete with， as their technologies are held by many different companies.

　　According to Li， China also has an advantage unavailable to other countries： Its total high-speed railway network is almost as large as those in all other countries combined， offering Chinese companies experience far beyond their foreign counterparts. For years China has developed its own technologies by learning from others， with China having the ability and experience of integrating global high-speed railway technologies.

　　Li thinks that in the application of high-speed railways running at 200 km and 250 km per hour， China is very competitive in the international market. Therefore， these two kinds of high-speed railways should be the focus of exports.

　　Considering exports of China’s high-speed railways， Hong Kong-based newspaper Wenweipo quoted Wang Mengshu， a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a rail expert， who said China has professional technicians in areas from rail bed building to manufacturing of trains， which are unavailable in other countries.

　　Foreign customers， however， regard safety as the most important consideration. The train crash in Wenzhou on July 23， 2011 is frequently mentioned by customers.

　　Li thinks the Wenzhou accident was due to a dereliction of duty rather than defects in technology.

　　When exporting trains， China is also selling its management experience and personnel training， together with railway technologies， which when combined should allay the safety concerns of all international customers.