Chinese Railway Development News

[fajarmuhasan]

copas from above:
Passengers would make 2.27 billion journeys by bus, up 7.5 percent year on year, and 32 million journeys by ship, up 3.6 percent, said He Jianzhong, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Transport.

2.27 billion journeys by bus....how come like that because the population in china only 1.5 billion (approx)
2.27 billion = 2.270.000.000

Sorry if i am wrong

[big-dog]

it says "journeys" not persons, so I think they count it based on the tickets issued. For example, most people need two tickets to complete a round trip, some may transfer for one or more than one times on the road...

[fajarmuhasan]

Originally Posted by big-dog

it says "journeys" not persons, so I think they count it based on the tickets issued. For example, most people need two tickets to complete a round trip, some may transfer for one or more than one times on the road...

O I C, thank you for your explanation.....

[chornedsnorkack]

Originally Posted by big-dog

yes, bus is perfect for short/medium distance transportations.

No, it is not. Not for high density routes.

Bus still suffers from the rolling friction of rubber wheel, the need to carry fuel and engine and lose energy during deceleration.

How come that the Chinese do less than 2 journeys per head over 40 days period? Surely they should do 2 journeys per head each day?

How many journeys per day are made in China by bus, trolley, tram and metro?

[Taizu]

Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed rail starts operation

XI'AN: A high-speed railway linking central China city Zhengzhou and northwestern city Xi'an, went into operation Saturday.


The 505-km Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway, the first of its kind in central and western China, cut the travel time between the two cities from former more than six hours to less than two hours, said local railway authorities Saturday.

The first train left Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, at 10:50 am and arrived at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, at 1:15 pm, said Long Jing, head of the Xi'an Railway Bureau.

The train traveled at 350 kilometers per hour, said Long. A total of 14 trains would be traveling between Zhengzhou and Xi'an everyday, said Long.

The first train from Zhengzhou to Xi'an departed from Zhengzhou at 11:25 am and arrived at Xi'an at 2:01 pm, said Niu Jianfeng, spokesman of the Zhengzhou Railway Bureau.

The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway, included in the country's "Mid- and long-term railway network plan", has been built since September 25, 2005, with a total investment of about 35.31 billion yuan ($5.17 billion), said Niu.

"The Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway will meet the growing demand of passenger and cargo transportation in central and western China, and help promote local development," said Wang Yongping, spokesman of the Ministry of Railways.

Henan is one of the major grain producers of China and an emerging economic and industrial powerhouse. This most populous province in China is also a major tourist attraction with a great number of sites of historical and cultural interests. Shaanxi boasts rich cultural resources and is endowed with rich natural resources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

The country's total railway coverage will be more than 110,000 kilometers by 2012 and 120,000 kilometers by 2020, according to the "Mid- and long-term railway network plan".

"By 2012, it will take less than eight hours to travel by train from Beijing to most provincial capitals in China," said Long.

Source: Chinadaily

[chornedsnorkack]

Originally Posted by Taizu

The 505-km Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway, the first of its kind in central and western China, cut the travel time between the two cities from former more than six hours to less than two hours, said local railway authorities Saturday.

The first train left Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, at 10:50 am and arrived at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, at 1:15 pm, said Long Jing, head of the Xi'an Railway Bureau.

The train traveled at 350 kilometers per hour, said Long. A total of 14 trains would be traveling between Zhengzhou and Xi'an everyday, said Long.

I get 2 hours 25 minutes here.

Originally Posted by Taizu

The first train from Zhengzhou to Xi'an departed from Zhengzhou at 11:25 am and arrived at Xi'an at 2:01 pm, said Niu Jianfeng, spokesman of the Zhengzhou Railway Bureau.

Here I get 2:36.

Both 2:25 and 2:36 seem to be more than 2 hours, not less than 2 hours.

Who is innumerate here?

Originally Posted by Taizu

"By 2012, it will take less than eight hours to travel by train from Beijing to most provincial capitals in China," said Long.

Source: Chinadaily

Specifically which of the 23?

[Taizu]

I get 2 hours 25 minutes here.

Strange, from which source did you got that?

Here I get 2:36.

Both 2:25 and 2:36 seem to be more than 2 hours, not less than 2 hours.

Who is innumerate here?

You've got that from the same source?

Specifically which of the 23?

I really wouldn't know, probably every province included in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's great rail project (Guangxi, Gansu, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces etc.).

[chornedsnorkack]

Originally Posted by Taizu

Strange, from which source did you got that?



You've got that from the same source?

Both from your post:

The first train left Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, at 10:50 am and arrived at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, at 1:15 pm,

From 10:50 to 1:15, I find 2:25. What would you offer?

The first train from Zhengzhou to Xi'an departed from Zhengzhou at 11:25 am and arrived at Xi'an at 2:01 pm,

From 11:25 to 2:01, I find 2:36. What do your calculations say?

Originally Posted by Taizu

I really wouldn't know, probably every province included in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's great rail project (Guangxi, Gansu, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces etc.).

The 23 capitals are:
Harbin
Changchun
Shenyang
Xining
Lanzhou
Xian
Taiyuan
Shijiazhuang
Chengdu
Wuhan
Zhengzhou
Jinan
Hefei
Nanjing
Kunming
Guiyang
Changsha
Nanchang
Hangzhou
Haikou
Guangzhou
Fuzhou
Taibei.

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by chornedsnorkack

I get 2 hours 25 minutes here.

Here I get 2:36.

Both 2:25 and 2:36 seem to be more than 2 hours, not less than 2 hours.

Who is innumerate here?

Specifically which of the 23?

Yup I observed the same so When i posted the article I made sure I did not mention the expected time to be 1 hour 30 minutes (in sky bar)

Anyway I guess it is because the Chinese rushed through the project in order to have the train running for the spring festival.My guess is there are still some sections in the track .Where the engineers are not sure about doing high speeds. Cause the train has been touching 350 Kmph as expected but is still taking around 2 and half hours. I guess once the spring festival traffic clears out .You will see the final adjustments being made and the train moving on its expected time schedule.

[Taizu]

From 11:25 to 2:01, I find 2:36. What do your calculations say?

You're right, I came out on the same result when I calculated it on my computer. They probably wrapped the numbers up to have the trains running for the Spring Festival like snapdragon said.

The 23 capitals are:
Harbin
Changchun
Shenyang
Xining
Lanzhou
Xian
Taiyuan
Shijiazhuang
Chengdu
Wuhan
Zhengzhou
Jinan
Hefei
Nanjing
Kunming
Guiyang
Changsha
Nanchang
Hangzhou
Haikou
Guangzhou
Fuzhou
Taibei.

Harbin, Shenyang, Dalian, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Jinan, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Changsha, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai are what I know of.

[snow is red]

China starts building railway into 'sea of death'

2010-03-04

URUMQI - China began Wednesday to build a railway over the Lop Nur, a former lake that is known as "the sea of death," in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Construction workers began building a 3-km railway bridge in Nanhu town of Hami City, the starting point of the 370-km railroad, sources with China Railway Group Co. Ltd., the prime contractor, said Thursday.

The railway project was launched by Xinjiang's regional government in June 2009, but civil construction was postponed for eight months to discuss technical details and raise funds, an executive with China Railway Group said on condition of anonymity.

The rail link would have a freight capacity of 33 million tonnes a year, he said.

The 3.28-billion yuan (470 million US dollars) railway is co-sponsored by Ministry of Railways, the regional government of Xinjiang and a branch of the State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC), a state-owned investment holding giant that has a potassium fertilizer base in the Lop Nur.

The Hami-Lop Nur railway will provide a faster route to transport Lop Nur's rich potassium salt, according to SDIC President Wang Huisheng.

The two places are linked by a highway that opened in 2006.

The railway, on completion in two years, would speed up exploitation of potassium salt, one of China's rarest resources used in fertilizer production, he said.

Lop Nur area has an estimated 500 million tonnes of reserves, valued at more than 500 billion yuan.

Without adequate exploitation of the potassium salt resources, China's total reserve is about 457 million tonnes, less than 3 percent of the world total. The country imports at least 4 million tonnes of potassium fertilizer every year.

At least 11 railways are under construction in Xinjiang. By 2020, the region's total rail mileage will top 10,000 kilometers.

The Lop Nur was the largest lake in northwestern China before it dried up in 1972 as a result of desertification and environmental degradation.

It once nurtured the civilization of Loulan (Kroraina) -- an ancient city that was one of the pivotal stops along the famous Silk Road, but mysteriously disappeared around the Third Century AD.

Due to its geology, geography and historical values, the Lop Nur has attracted the attention of scientists from home and abroad since the mid 19th century.

In 1980, Peng Jiamu, a noted Chinese scientist, went missing on his fourth expedition to the Lop Nur and was never found.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_9539782.htm

[CoCoMilk]

Cross-strait fast-rail link on agenda, official says
Stephen Chen
Mar 14, 2010
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Not content with criss-crossing the mainland and much of Asia with high-speed rail lines, Beijing plans an even more eye-popping route - under the sea to Taiwan.

But the plan, confirmed by a senior railways official, faces formidable challenges.

They are both technical - the shortest tunnel under the Taiwan Strait would be 126 kilometres long, more than twice the length of the world's longest undersea rail tunnel - and political: asked about the idea, a Taiwanese government official said it was not even worth talking about.

That's not surprising. Wang Mengshu, a top mainland rail expert and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, makes no bones about the impact such a line would have. Once the tunnel is built, the historical issue of Taiwan's independence will be gone forever," he said. Wang predicts the island's green camp of pro-independence parties "will definitely try to block it".

Still, he said mainland and Taiwanese researchers would meet on the mainland in the coming months to discuss the technical issues of the tunnel. And he is confident the mainland has the technical know-how to build the railway if political hurdles can be overcome.

The extensive and rapid construction of the mainland's high-speed rail network had equipped the country's engineers with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to dig the undersea tunnel, he said. Wang was a key figure in the drafting of the mainland's railway development plan.

"The tunnel will be more than 100 kilometres long. Some of the high-speed rail tunnels under construction in the mountainous areas of central and western China have exceeded 40 kilometres. Technically, they are the same," he said. "Earthquakes won't be a problem, either. They can only destroy surface structures. They have no effect on a tunnel."

The plan was laid out in an agreement signed two years ago between the Ministry of Railways and coastal Fujian province, which faces Taiwan, to build a high-speed network linking Fujian with other parts of the mainland. But few took notice of the idea of a cross-strait high-speed rail line until the recent boom in mainland high-speed railway construction began.

Now the idea appears to be gaining some traction. Yu Zhuomin, director of the Wuhan Railway Bureau, told Wuhan's Changjiang Daily that building a high-speed railway connecting Kunming and Taiwan was "on the government agenda". The agreement between the ministry and Fujian includes such a link.

Yu said Wuhan, as the hub of the mainland's fast-growing high-speed rail network, would benefit from a cross-strait service.

Zheng Jian, chief planner of the Ministry of Railways, confirmed yesterday that Beijing was financing preliminary research on the feasibility of the project. Still, he said the government attached great importance to the rail links on the western side of the Taiwan Strait and planned high-speed services and other mass transit networks linking Fujian with other parts of the mainland, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanchang .

"[The undersea tunnel linking Fujian to Taiwan] is included in China's medium and long-term plans for railway development," he said.

Wang, of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the goal of the coming meeting between officials, researchers and senior engineers from the government, construction companies and research institutes on the mainland, and railway industry representatives in Taiwan, was to settle on an optimal route between Fujian and Taiwan.

"There are three routes on the table - the northern, central and southern routes. The southern route links Xiamen and Kaohsiung," Wang said. "But, at the moment, the northern route has received more support from researchers. If the northern route is selected, the ministry will order construction clearance at the site of the tunnel entrance in northern Fujian."

He estimated the tunnel would cost 200 billion yuan (HK$227.32 billion) and take 10 years to build.

Taiwan described the plan as wishful thinking.

"This is only a unilateral view, not worth responding [to]," said Jonathan Liu Teh-hsun, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. "We have no plan like this at all."

Wang Kung-yi, a professor of international affairs and strategic studies at Taiwan's Tamkang University, said plans to link the mainland and Taiwan by rail, road or undersea tunnel were politically sensitive and construction was highly unlikely before the two sides resolved their political disputes.

"They involve territory, sovereignty and other thorny political issues that the two sides must address and resolve before such construction plans can be feasible."

Still, newspaper the Economic Observer said local governments were, even at this stage, clamouring for a place on a Kunming-Taiwan link, with Hunan cities such as Chenzhou vying with neighbours to be selected as a stop.

Additional reporting by Lawrence Chung in Taipei

Source:
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP...s=China&s=News

[Restless]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae804264-3...=53&SID=google

Siemens joins China bid for Saudi rail link
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing
Published: March 16 2010 13:56 | Last updated: March 16 2010 13:56

Siemens, the German industrial giant, has dropped a bid to supply trains and equipment for the Mecca-to-Medina high-speed railway line in Saudi Arabia and has joined a Chinese consortium, in a sign of the growing competitiveness of Chinese rail manufacturers.

Siemens abandoned its own bid as part of a consortium with the Saudi Binladin Group and has joined a bid led by state-owned China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation for the second phase of the $7bn Haramain high-speed rail project, according to people familiar with the situation.

The German engineering group will provide signalling and electrification equipment to the Chinese consortium, which also includes China Railway Construction Corp and the Beijing Railway Administration.

The 450km railway will link Islam’s two holiest sites via the port of Jeddah and will ease congestion during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, when more than 2.5m people make the journey to Mecca.

The Chinese bid is seen as the frontrunner – China Railway Construction Corp, which is also state-owned, was part of a consortium that won a $1.8bn contract to build the first phase of the project last year.

“Siemens realised when China threw its hat in the ring, that they were unlikely to win so they decided to join them rather than let one of their competitors team up with the Chinese bidder,” said one person involved in the project.

France’s Alstom and South Korea’s Hyundai and Samsung are also bidding for the second phase of the Haramain project, according to someone close to the situation.

Siemens said it was unable to comment on the project due to the ongoing tender.

“Generally, we can say that co-operation with our Chinese partners in international projects is always an option for us,” Ansgar Brockmeyer, head of public transit at Siemens Mobility told the Financial Times.

Shafqat Rabbani, project manager for the Haramain high speed rail at the Saudi Railways Organisation, said the SRO had not been “formally informed” that Siemens was joining the Chinese consortium.

Final bids for the project are due in on May 1.

Analysts said Siemens’ decision to hitch its wagon to the Chinese bid was a sign of how competitive the Chinese rail industry has become and how state backing from Beijing helps in winning contracts abroad.

A series of bids by state-owned Chinese rail companies in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere have all been co-ordinated by China’s Railway Ministry. Two $1.8bn contracts were announced last year during a visit to the Kingdom by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“China is now the largest producer of rolling stock and related technologies globally, and we’re seeing more and more of these Sino-foreign partnerships exploring new markets,” said Evan Auyang, an executive at Transport International and a former infrastructure consultant at McKinsey.

Additional reporting by Eliot Gao in Beijing

[Restless]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a04d14cc-3...44feabdc0.html

China on track to boost high-speed rail
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing


For decades the high-speed railway sector has been dominated by a handful of companies in Europe, Japan and North America that have mostly concentrated on projects in their own regional markets.

But now, just as the industry is witnessing a proliferation of high-speed rail projects across the globe, the rapid rise of Chinese state-owned rail producers is posing a serious threat to the dominance of companies like Germany’s Siemens, France’s Alstom, Canada’s Bombardier and Japan’s Kawasaki.

“Chinese companies are changing the landscape of the global railway market because of the dimensions of their home market and because they are becoming involved in international tenders, which is new,” according to Dominique Pouliquen, Asia-Pacific managing director for Alstom.

In a sign of how competitive the Chinese state railway equipment producers now are, Siemens has abandoned its own bid for the second phase of the “pilgrim express” linking the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia and joined a Chinese consortium instead.

While the Chinese companies are new to the global stage and lag their European rivals in terms of quality and technology they have some significant advantages.

“Price is their number one competitive advantage and they are very well organized with financing support from Chinese state-owned banks,” Mr Pouliquen told the Financial Times. “They offer a global package which is usually combining technical solution with financing so it is very easy for governments to make a decision to use their products.”

The Chinese Ministry of Railways, which directly owns many of the country’s rail companies, co-ordinates tenders so Chinese companies don’t bid against each other and also encourages foreign companies to join Chinese consortiums by holding out the prospect of greater access to the enormous Chinese market.

Analysts say Chinese companies are already very active in bidding for projects in Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as Latin American countries like Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

They are also targeting a number of projects in Australia and the US and have already made significant inroads in their own region with contracts in Thailand and Hong Kong.

The rise of the Chinese rail industry with its global aspirations has happened virtually overnight.

Iain Carmichael, managing director Lloyd’s Register Rail in Asia, says that as recently as three years ago Chinese companies didn’t have the knowhow for many parts of their own rail systems, such as signaling and high-speed technology, and that provided a huge opportunity for European companies.
“But as the Chinese gained the know-how, the relationship changed so now the Chinese have the upper hand and the Europeans now have to work co-operatively if they want to compete,” Mr Carmichael said.

“Rolling stock products are built cheaper in China than anywhere else and the quality is now at the level where they can sell to global projects.”
He says the main constraint on Chinese exports of rolling stock is capacity, as Chinese producers are trying to keep up with orders at home in what is now the largest market in the world.

“Some big manufacturers are tripling their output this year and we’re seeing a vast expansion of metro systems as well as high speed rail,” Mr Carmichael said.

China’s market for rail equipment, including trains, components and equipment like signaling systems, is expected to quintuple from an average of $10bn a year in the period between 2004 and 2008 to more than $50bn a year between 2009 and 2013, according to estimates from McKinsey and Co.

This year, China is expected to account for more than half of the total global expenditure on rail equipment.

The government plans to build at least 30,000km of new railway, most of it high speed, over the next five years and China is expected to soon overtake Russia to have the second-largest rail infrastructure in the world after the US.

These ambitious expansion plans have been on the books for years but in the wake of the financial crisis, the government accelerated its planned build-out to help boost growth, moving the target date for completion for many projects up from 2020 to 2015.

The size and scale of the Chinese market partly explains why European and international rail equipment providers are scrambling over each other to partner with the Chinese state producers inside the country and around the world.

But co-operation has come at a price.

“European manufacturers have complained that they have transferred technology to China as required [by Beijing] and now the Chinese are using their technology to compete on price in the international market and even in the European home markets,” said Evan Auyang, an executive at Hong Kong-based Transport International and a former infrastructure consultant at McKinsey.

Chinese regulations for the sector include onerous local content requirements stipulating that 70-90 per cent of rail equipment must be Chinese-made and the official state policy on using foreign rail technology is known as “introduce, digest, absorb then innovate”.

“Around 90 per cent of the technology the Chinese currently are using is derived from their partnerships or equipment developed by foreign companies,” Mr Pouliquen said.

[foxmulder]

Nice readings, thanks. Shows how much China's changed.

[hkhui]

From Financial Times::

China Railway wins $4.8bn Indonesia deal
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing and Anthony Deutsch in Jakarta
Published: March 25 2010 19:37 | Last updated: March 25 2010 19:37

China Railway Group has won a $4.8bn contract to build and operate an Indonesian coal railway, the latest in a string of offshore contracts for China’s state-controlled rail companies.

They have been winning rail projects across the world, including in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. Chinese companies have also been snapping up global coal assets for the country’s power stations.
The deal is also further evidence that the once-frosty ties between East Asia’s two largest nations are now rapidly warming. It comes just weeks before Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, is scheduled to make his first visit to Indonesia.

China Railway, listed in both Hong Kong and Shanghai but majority owned by the state, said on Thursday it won the 24-year contract to design, build and manage the railway in South Sumatra for Indonesia’s Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway Corporation.

China Railway owns 10 per cent of Bukit Asam Transpacific Railway. Privately-owned Transpacific Group owns 80 per cent and Indonesian coal mining giant Bukit Asam owns the rest.

Beijing has made the transfer of sophisticated technology a prerequisite for international rail companies trying to enter the huge Chinese market and in the process, Chinese companies have rapidly become technologically competitive while offering much lower prices than their global rivals.

State-owned Chinese financial institutions usually offer favourable financing terms for projects such as the coal transport line in South Sumatra, making Chinese bids even more attractive.

China Railway announced on Monday a “strategic co-operation” agreement with state-owned Agricultural Bank of China to fund the railway. The bank will provide up to Rmb110bn ($16bn, €12bn, £11bn) in financing over the next three years to support China Railway projects, including its overseas contracts and projects related to exploiting natural resources.

Bukit Asam said it and its partners were in talks with four Chinese lenders to finance 70 per cent of the railway and the rest will be financed internally.

In spite of a history of turbulent bilateral relations, Chinese investment in Indonesia has in recent years significantly outstripped traditional sources such as the US.

Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal. Last year 15 per cent of its coal exports went to China.

[hkhui]

All articles from scmp.com

High-speed rail spells doom for Xian air link
Reuters in Beijing
4:44pm, Mar 26, 2010

A new high-speed rail link between two mainland cities has cut travel times so dramatically that all competing air services on the route have been suspended, state media said.
The suspension of flights between the gritty industrial city of Zhengzhou and Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, came just 48 days after the express railway began operations, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
The 505km railway, on which trains run at a top speed of 350 km/h, has cut the travel time between the two cities from more than six hours to less than two, the report said. By contrast, flying takes just over an hour. Xian’s airport is also located at least an hour away by road from downtown.

Before the railway opened, Joy Air, one of the domestic airlines flying the route, managed to sell an average of more than 60 per cent of seats for the route, Xinhua said.

Zhengzhou airport confirmed that all flights to and from Xian had now stopped, the report added.

Mainland is spending billions of dollars on a network of high-speed railways, including one from Beijing to the country’s financial capital Shanghai, posing a challenge to airlines which had profited from mainland’s vast size and slow roads and trains.

By 2012, the country would have more than 13,000 km of high-speed railway, Xinhua said.

“By then, 60 per cent of China’s domestic air market will be affected by the high-speed railways,” Liu Chaoyong, general manager of China Eastern Airlines (SEHK: 0670), was quoted as saying.

China Eastern last year agreed to sell 35 per cent of Joy Air, in which it held 40 per cent, to state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China.

Costs and political sensitivities hit hopes of a pan-Asia rail link
Toh Han Shih in Beijing
Mar 22, 2010


Prospective Malaysian and Thai partners in a Chinese-built high-speed rail network linking the mainland with Southeast Asia say prohibitive costs and political sensitivities could delay the plan for a decade.
"High-speed trains may happen in Malaysia in 10 to 15 years, but not in two to three years. The main problem is high-speed rail is too expensive as new rail lines need to be laid," said Afzar Zakariya, a senior manager at Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), the Malaysian state railway.

Zakariya was speaking on the sidelines of the China Modern Rail Summit in Beijing last week.

At an earlier railway conference in Beijing, a senior Thai railway official said that Chinese companies had been trying to persuade the Thai government to adopt high-speed railways supplied by China, but he was advising against the plan.

High-speed rail links were too expensive for Thailand, given the state of its economy, the official said, adding that political sensitivities over the location of rail links from southern China through Southeast Asian nations such as Myanmar and Vietnam, would require careful negotiation.

Another KTM official, Ismail Said, said mainland firms may be invited to join upgrading projects on existing lines and train stations in Malaysia, but not high-speed systems.

China has proposed a high-speed link from Kunming, in Yunnan province, to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia, and is involved in technical negotiations on this issue, it has been reported.

State-owned firms such as China Railway Group (SEHK: 0390) and CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicle were in negotiations with parties in Malaysia over various railway projects, including a high-speed network, CNR sales chief Wang Dianwu said

But Wang declined to comment on a Malaysian newspaper report that CNR was in talks to build a rail link between Georgetown on Penang island with Butterworth.

In November last year, around the time of President Hu Jintao's visit to Malaysia, the Malaysian government announced it would award a US$2.1 billion railway project in southern Malaysia to a Chinese consortium including China Railway Engineering Corporation, the state-owned parent of China Railway Group, a Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed railway construction firm.

But China Railway Group now appears to be facing possible delays in its planned Malaysian projects.

On March 9, when former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin met the group's president Li Changjin in Beijing, Li expressed to Daim his hope that both sides would implement their joint project as soon as possible, according to China Railway's website.

Daim replied that while the Malaysian government had signed a letter of intent on the project late last year, much work remained to be done by both sides.

With progress on the high-speed land network evidently stalled over price and political sensitivities, attention has returned to the idea of a 200km undersea high-speed rail link between Fujian province and Taiwan, which was first mooted earlier this month.

Zheng Jian, the chief planner at China's Ministry of Railways, confirmed that an undersea high-speed rail tunnel between Fujian and Taiwan was part of the government's long-term plans, and said authorities were conducting feasibility studies.

But the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy co-ordinating body responded coolly to the comments, dismissing the idea as a unilateral proposal from Beijing and saying it was improper for the two sides to talk about such a huge project given the political situation across the Taiwan Strait.

However, speaking in Beijing last week, Sung Hung-kang, the chief of the train operation and maintenance section of the Taiwan Railways Administration, said the feasibility of the idea should be considered.

"Now there is no war between China and Taiwan. Relations between Taiwan and China are improving. As cross-straits ties get better, a high-speed rail link can be considered," said Sung.

Last year, the Taiwan government scrapped a law forbidding the sourcing of railway equipment from the mainland. Also last year, a Taiwanese railway delegation visited mainland railway officials in Shanghai to discuss cross-strait partnerships in rail technology and Taiwanese purchase of mainland-made railway components, said Sung.

The Taiwan Railways Administration is conducting a tender for 296 electric train cars, and mainland companies were welcome to bid for it, he said.

Private funds shun railway projects
Toh Han Shih
Mar 25, 2010

Private bankrolling of the mainland's ambitious railway construction plan has fallen far short of Beijing's wishes as investors shy away from the huge capital outlay required.
The government originally wanted 40 per cent of railway project financing to come from the private sector, but it is actually below 5 per cent, according to Chen Jing, a sales manager at Beijing Huaxinjie Investment Consulting (BHI), a Chinese state-controlled consultancy.

"Railways have been far less successful than expressways in getting foreign and private investment," Chen said. "Railway investment is very high, and return on investment is a consideration for investors."

Private investors baulked at backing the 1,069km Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway, which costs 116.6 billion yuan (HK$132.55 billion). It started service in December last year and will connect with Hong Kong's future high-speed railway by 2016. The project tried to get both private and foreign investment but failed, Chen said.

In 2004, a mainland company was formed to obtain private financing for railway projects but was unsuccessful and was subsequently acquired by the Ministry of Railways, he added.

As a result, the country's massive rail spending is being financed by debt and investment from the central government, local governments and the ministry.

China plans to dislodge the United States as having the world's most extensive railway network by 2020, with 120,000km of track. Planned investment in railway construction is 823.5 billion yuan this year, and for the 12th Five-Year Plan from 2011 to 2015, the budget is three trillion yuan, according to BHI.

"To make money from railways has always been a challenge around the world," said Paul Ng, a partner at law firm Stephenson Harwood. "Few, if any, rail projects make money. With a ticket costing two yuan, the Beijing metro will never make money. How do you attract investors to a project like that?"

The global financial crisis also has stymied foreign funding of the railway projects. "The number of banks active in big-ticket funding has massively decreased in the last couple of years," said Graeme McLellan, a partner at Stephenson Harwood.

Premier Wen Jiabao recently stated a preference for more spending on social causes instead of transport infrastructure projects, said Wendy Liu, the head of China research at RBS. "This means railway spending growth will moderate on the margin. We are likely to see strong competition for funding in 2010 among various infrastructure projects and regular enterprise borrowers."

Chinese infrastructure firms' deals top US$5b
Toh Han Shih
Mar 26, 2010


Chinese infrastructure construction firms have recently won more than US$5 billion in contracts for Indonesia and Macau.
China Railway Group (SEHK: 0390) won a US$4.8 billion contract to build and operate a rail coal freight network in Indonesia, equivalent to 13.96 per cent of the company's turnover in 2008, the state-owned firm announced on the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.



On March 23 in Beijing, the Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed company signed the US$4.8 billion contract with Bhakta Hill Pan Pacific Railway Corporation, consisting of a US$1.3 billion project to build the railway within 1,460 days and a US$3.5 billion yuan contract to operate it for 20 years.

Given the long-term nature of the project, the contract would not have any significant effect on China Railway's results this year, the company said. "The contract's risks are mainly in financing, currency exchange rate and operations," China Railway said.

The financing risk arises from the project's dependence on Bhakta Hill's ability to raise funds, while the foreign exchange risk arises from the fact that 65 per cent of the consideration is in US dollars, China Railway said.

The operational risk is because project revenue depends on how much coal is transported, China Railway said. Recently, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction (SEHK: 1800) (CCC), a state-owned port construction firm, and China National Electric Equipment Corporation signed in Beijing a US$64.41 million contract to build a port for the Tanjung Awar-Awar electric power station in Java in Indonesia, CCC said.

The port will facilitate the supply of raw material to the power station. The construction period is 20 months.

CCC said last week that West Java governor Ahman Heryawan welcomed the company's increased participation in infrastructure projects in the Indonesia province. Heryawan said CCC had established itself as one of the leading engineering contractors in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government plans to see infrastructure spending of US$140 billion in the next five years to lift annual GDP growth to 7 per cent, including US$90 billion that it hoped would come from the private sector, Agence France-Presse quoted the Indonesian Investment Co-ordinating Board chairman Gita Wirjawan as saying.

Last week, CCC won a 1.58 billion pataca contract to expand a port in Cotai in Macau, CCC said. The Macau project involves a passenger terminal, with 16 berths for boats carrying 400 passengers, and three berths for boats carrying 1,200 passengers, as well as helicopter pads. The construction period is 1,088 days.

[Nozumi 300]

Does anyone know what train is in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkSmP2Gi8g
It looks like a CRH 1 with a modification of the front.

[Haoting]

China produces first home-grown maglev train
2010-04-09

video link:
http://english.cctv.com/program/bizc...9/103013.shtml

China's first home-grown sample maglev train has been completed, making China the third country able to design and produce the trains after Germany and Japan.

This maglev train has a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour. It is expected to take its pilot run on the maglev line in Shanghai during this year's World Expo.

Wu Xiangming, Engineer, Maglev Train Dev’t Project’s expert Group, said, "This is the first domestically-designed and produced maglev train in China. We own the independent intellectual property rights. We will make a pilot run to test whether the train has any flaws.

Maglev trains are the fastest mode of ground transportation in the world. The vehicle contains materials that are used on airplanes.

China used to import maglev technology from developed countries, but after years of learning and innovation, the country has now mastered the entire range of production from building the rails to developing the control system.

Dai Ganchang, Engineer, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said, "We had a deal with Germany. They introduced technology to us and we digested it. Currently, we only import some parts from Germany. The design and manufacturing are totally home-grown. "

China's first maglev line officially opened at the end of 2002 in Shanghai. The trains were imported from Germany. The line has transported a total of 23 million passengers since its introduction. It travels at a speed of 430 kilometers an hour.

[Haoting]

China unveils world's fastest Maglev train

By Chen Chen
China.org.cn
April 9, 2010



Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co., (CAIC) Thursday completed the world's first Maglev train designed to travel at speeds up to 500 kilometers per hour in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is the only high-capacity, energy-conserving and environmentally friendly ground transportation that can run at such a high speed.

CAIC begun research on the train in 2004, incorporating the lightweight designs and materials of airplanes to develop the train. Running at 400 kilometers an hour, it will use only half of the energy of a car and one-third that of a plane.

The train will be put into commercial use in Shanghai during the 2010 World Expo.



http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-0...t_19780592.htm