CRRC's 400km/h Cross-border Interconnection High-speed Train Rolls Off Assembly Line at CRRC Changchun
BEIJING, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC, 1766.HK), one of the world's leading rail transportation equipment providers, has announced that its 400km/h cross-border interconnection high-speed train has rolled off the assembly line at CRRC Changchun, a regional division of CRRC. A milestone in China's high-speed railway equipment development, this new train is capable of operating between international railways, possessing different climates, gauges, and power supply standards. Meanwhile, it also boasts advanced features such as energy efficiency, active safety, and intelligent maintenance.
Variable Gauge Technology for Cross-border and Regional Interconnection
Of the different gauge standards in the world, there are four major gauges - standard gauge (1,435mm), Russian wide gauge (1,520mm), European wide gauge (1,676mm), and meter gauge (1,067mm). Currently, when ordinary trains are in transit between countries with different gauge standards, it is necessary to replace the train's bogie before crossing the border, taking up both time and cost.
"Previously, when rail changes occurred, the train's body had to be lifted in order to replace the bogie, a process that generally takes two to three hours and even longer if debugging time is included", said Wang Lei, Senior Design Expert at CRRC. "With our new high-speed train, there is no longer this need because the body and bogie, as well as the traction and network systems, are not separate and all-in-one. This extremely seamless, time-saving feature is a game-changer in international rail systems."
Crediting to the gauge-changing bogies, this train can complete track-change operations while in transit, thus greatly improving the efficiency of cross-border intermodal transportation and reducing transportation costs. During the offline ceremony, the new train carried out a live demonstration of the bogie exchange, taking only a few minutes to complete as the train simultaneously continued its operations. Meanwhile, the train's strong environmental adaptability enables it to operate in temperatures ranging from -50 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius. It can also run under different traction power supply systems and railway transportation standards, achieving interconnection with 90% of global railway networks.
A Green Train: Energy Saving and Environmentally Friendly
By leveraging comprehensive energy-saving technologies, the new train is able to reduce its average energy consumption per kilometer by 10% and its noise by two decibels under the same speed. This means that when the train is running at 400km/h, the energy consumption and noise levels remain the same as a train at 350km/h. It also does not increase energy consumption whilst increasing speed.
An Intelligent System for Guaranteed Safety
Leveraging intelligent composite sensor technology, big data, and feature extraction technology, the new train can intelligently assess and evaluate its operations while running, and is equipped with an early warning alarm system. With the vehicle-mounted equipment, vehicle-ground data transmission, and track-ground system, a full life cycle management platform integrating vehicle-ground can be built to provide suggestions for train operations and maintenance, realizing active safety measures and intelligent maintenance.
CRRC's 400km/h high-speed train is a major achievement in both speed and interconnection, paving the way forward for continued advances in railway engineering.
About CRRC
CRRC (CRRC Corporation Limited) is one of the world's largest rail transportation equipment companies, with annual sales revenue of RMB229.01 billion in 2019. It has provided products and services to more than 100 countries and regions, and established 15 international R&D centers. CRRC has set up local manufacturing bases in the US, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey, India, among other countries. As of 2019, CRRC has ranked 359th among the Fortune Global 500 companies. For more information, please visit http://www.crrcgc.cc/en.