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皇冠体育app gears up for high-speed rail plan
(CNN/皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-22 15:22
Six Japanese companies led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries are in the final
stages of talks to supply 皇冠体育app with 60 high-speed trains, according to Japanese
media reports.
皇冠体育app may choose Japan's Shinkansen bullet
train for part of its high-speed rail expansion plans.
[AFP] | To improve its railway network, 皇冠体育app is
planning to spend more than $80 billion for a high-speed system covering about
12,000 km (7,500 miles), Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Germany's Siemens has already won an order for 60 eight-car trains from
皇冠体育app, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.
It said a contract worth 669 million euros ($785 million) was signed in
Berlin during a state visit to Germany by 皇冠体育app's President Hu Jintao a week
ago.
The trains are to be used initially on the Beijing-Tianjin route from 2008
and extended to other high-speed routes later on, according to a Siemens
statement.
The trains have a total length of 200 metres and can hold more than 600
passengers, 皇冠体育app Daily reported.
As part of 皇冠体育app's rail expansion plans, the Kawasaki-led Japanese group,
which includes Itochu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Corp. and
Marubeni, is expected to win a contract for 60 Shinkansen "bullet" trains.
According to a report by the Nihon Keizai business daily, the Chinese
Ministry of Railways said in October it would place an order for 100 high-speed
trains to run at up to 300 km/h on raised tracks.
The ministry singled out Japanese and German firms as prospective vendors.
The other 20 trains are from a previous order.
The Nikkei report said the Japanese trains to be
delivered will be based on the Hayate, a model operated by East Japan Railway on
the Tohoku line.
It said the trains likely would run between the industrial city of Wuhan in
Hubei province and the coastal city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province.
Chinese firm CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co.
will build the trains, while the Japanese firms will supply parts and transfer
technology at the request of the Chinese government, according to the Nikkei
report.
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