Chinese bullet train maker sells coaches to Delhi Metro

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has bought 21 coaches from the leading bullet train maker in China. The company had sold 15 coaches to DMRC in 2010.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has bought 21 coaches from the leading bullet train maker in China.

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The company had sold 15 coaches to DMRC in 2010.

CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive is a subsidiary of a major Chinese train manufacturer, CSR Corporation.

Chinese state media quoted a statement from the company as saying that the trains would be more energy efficient and thus be an industry model because India is affected by power shortages.

CSR is China’s leading bullet train maker, and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive manufactures European-standard Metro trains, the statement added.

China’s railway sector has rapidly developed in the last three decades.

During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Beijing visit last week, India had sought China’s help in developing infrastructure in the sector.

While railways in India carry more people, the railway sector in China is ahead in carrying freight.

“We are seeking their expertise to find out if trains can run up to 200km a hour on existing tracks and if heavier loads can be moved on existing tracks,” Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, had said in a briefing on Singh’s visit last week.

He added that China has deep expertise on moving heavy loads through the rail network.

“On modernisation of railways, India and China’s interests coincide. And not as aid but as a commercial interest, we have offered two railway stations to China to modernise,” Ahluwalia added

He said till the early 80s, the level of sophistication of the railway networks in both countries was on par. But then China made rapid progress in the next three decades.

China has the world’s longest network of high speed trains with routes crisscrossing nearly 10,000km already functional.

For example, a high speed trBeijingain that connects Beijing and Shanghai completes the journey of over 1,300km in five hours.