CRRC's 'intelligent' train on track for 2022

CRRC Corp Ltd, one of the world's largest rail vehicle manufacturers, is expected to roll out an "intelligent" train during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, as the company aims to ascend the smart transportation hierarchy in three to five years.

"The prototype train is 'smart' in all fields, from technology and design to automation management," Liu Hualong, chairman of CRRC, said at a panel discussion during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 on Monday.

Its smart features and energy-saving capabilities will outperform the Fuxing Bullet Train, according to the company, which shipped metro trains for the Rio Olympics in Brazil and operated the system for the duration of the 2016 Games.

By 2020, the company will be on course to unveil a cross-border high-speed train service at 400 kilometers per hour that can alternate between different track gauges, facilitating outbound rail services in Russia and Southeast Asia, Liu said.

Such trains are currently undergoing testing, he noted.

"In terms of rail transportation, there is a host of new offerings in the pipeline over the next three to five years," he said.

Within a span of three years, CRRC plans to launch sample maglev trains with a speed of 600 kph, which would be faster than any other train currently in operation, said Liu.

The high-speed maglev transportation system is one of the key projects under the Ministry of Science and Technology's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) to promote advanced rail transit systems.

The project would enable China to have independently owned technology in the design, manufacturing, adjustment and appraisal of the high-speed maglev transportation system that promises faster speeds and reduced energy consumption.

In an environmental move, the company will introduce high-speed train and subway cars made of new materials such as carbon fiber by 2020, he noted.

The country's Made in China 2025 strategy to beef up high-end manufacturing has listed railways as a priority sector. Operating in more than 100 countries and regions, CRRC strives to become a globally competitive firm that will export domestically developed technologies.

CRRC is ranked sixth among the top 10 spenders in research and development in China, according to a study released by consultancy PwC in 2016.

Liu said the current trade friction triggered by Washington has had a very limited impact on CRRC's business with US, since more than 60 percent of the related production takes place in the United States.