CHINA: Rolling stock manufacturer CRRC has awarded Knorr-Bremse a ‘mid double-digit million-euro’ contract to supply subsystems for trainsets ordered to operate two automated metro lines under construction in Beijing.
Knorr-Bremse is to supply braking systems featuring EP 2002 controls, as well as IFE external sliding doors with SmartSlide noise-reducing features, for 68 eight-car trainsets for Beijing Line 17. This 49·7 km line designed for fully automated operation at up to 100 km/h is scheduled to open in 2022.
Knorr-Bremse’s MERAK subsidiary will supply pressure-sealed HVAC systems for 10 eight-car trainsets to operate the 22·4 km automated Line 19. This is scheduled to open in 2021, and will be the first metro line in Beijing designed for a maximum speed of 120 km/h.
The braking systems are being produced by Knorr-Bremse Suzhou and the Knorr-Bremse Nankou joint venture, while the IFE doors will be manufactured by IFE-Victall in Qingdao and the HVAC systems in Wuxi. The HVAC order marks MERAK’s entry into supplying components for CRRC’s China Standard Metro platform.
‘Concluding our largest ever multi-system order in Chinese metro history is a tremendous success for Knorr-Bremse, and it enables us to further strengthen our foothold in the Chinese rail market’, said Dr Jürgen Wilder, executive board member responsible for the Rail Vehicle Systems division, on December 14.
Meanwhile, Knorr-Bremse’s Suzhou-based RailServices unit is to modernise a Shenyang metro Line 2 train dating from 2012 by fitting air supply units.
