Bombardier wins $2B contract for high-speed trains in China

Berlin, Germany-based Bombardier Transportation said today its Chinese joint venture has been chosen to supply 80 high-speed trains, which incorporate energy efficient technology, to China’s high-speed rail network.

The joint venture, Bombardier Sifang Transportation, was selected by the Chinese Ministry of Railways for the RMB 27.4 billion ($4 billion) project, with Bombardier taking a share of the contract valued at RMB 13.5 billion ($2 billion).

The agency handles rail industry regulation and development. China is developing more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) of high speed lines, according to Bombardier.

The first train is expected to be delivered in 2012, with final deliveries in 2014.

The trains, which can reach speeds of 380 kilometers per hour (236 mph), use what Bombardier said is an energy efficient propulsion and control system.

They are also expected to incorporate Bombardier’s advanced energy saving technologies, which optimize energy use, decrease energy waste and minimize carbon dioxide emissions, according to the company. They have the potential to offer total energy savings of up to 50 percent.

Bombardier Transportation is a division of Canada’s Bombardier (TSE:BBD.B), the world’s top train maker and third largest aerospace company.

The joint venture between Bombardier and CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock has delivered more than 1,000 passenger rail cars into China, including high-speed trains, since it was established in 1998.

The new trains are expected to be manufactured at the joint venture’s production facilities in Qingdao, China.

Bombardier’s suite of technologies, introduced in 2008, include a simulation software tool for transit system designers to optimize the design of a train's power distribution and energy consumption.

In addition, computer-aided engineering tools can be used to optimize aerodynamic performance of the rail vehicles, which by reducing drag can offer energy savings.

Bombardier’s branded ThermoEfficient Climatisation System offers energy savings by adapting cooling and heating of a cabin based on passenger occupancy.

And the company’s Mitrac Energy Saver technology uses ultracapacitors to store energy released every time a vehicle brakes and reuse it during acceleration or operation, similar to regenerative braking being used by New Delhi's metro railway and New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (see Delhi Metro earns carbon credits for regenerative braking system and New York transit going green).