CHINA: A low-temperature variant of the China Standard EMU developed by CRRC Tangshan has been put into service on CR’s 350 km/h Beijing – Harbin Passenger-Dedicated Line.
An initial batch of nine winterised CR400BF-G trainsets was supplied by CRRC Changchun ahead of completion of the final section of the Beijing – Harbin route in January 2021, out of an intended fleet of 60 sets. Although designed for 350 km/h, these were limited to 300 km/h during the first months of operation.
Derived from the Fuxing ‘Golden Phoenix’ EMU, the CR400BF-G trains have a sealed, snow-proof structure designed to prevent the pipework and braking systems from freezing, which the manufacturer says offers ‘the advantages of safety and stability, as well as a strong resistance to wind, snow and frigid temperatures’ down to -40°C.
Announcing the launch of the Tangshan-built ‘Alpine’ trainsets on April 5, CRRC Corp said the winterised EMUs were now offering a journey time of 2 h 44 min for the 698 km from Beijing Chaoyang to Shenyang. End-to-end journey time for the 1 198 km to Harbin is 4 h 52 min.
