China’s bullet trains facilitate market integration and mitigate the cost of megacity growth

[cirr]

High-speed Train Test between Hangzhou and Nanchang Accomplished

2014-10-27 20:50:58 Xinhua Web Editor: Liu

Two passengers walk alongside a high-speed railway train which pulls off at the Jiangshan Station in Quzhou during a test run between Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and Nanchang, capital of the neighbouring Jiangxi Province, on Oct. 27, 2014. A four-day high-speed train test between Hangzhou and Nanchang was accomplished on Monday. The railway section that has been under test is part of the 931-kilometer Hangzhou-Changsha Railway, a key component of a greater rail network that eventually joins Shanghai in the east and Kunming in the southwest. [Photo: Xinhua/Han Chuanhao]

A high-speed railway train pulls off at the Jiangshan Station in Quzhou during a test run between Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and Nanchang, capital of the neighbouring Jiangxi Province, on Oct. 27, 2014. A four-day high-speed train test between Hangzhou and Nanchang was accomplished on Monday. The railway section that has been under test is part of the 931-kilometer Hangzhou-Changsha Railway, a key component of a greater rail network that eventually joins Shanghai in the east and Kunming in the southwest. [Photo: Xinhua/Han Chuanhao]

Two attendants are seen at the entrance of a high-speed railway train which pulls off at the Jiangshan Station in Quzhou during a test run between Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and Nanchang, capital of the neighbouring Jiangxi Province, on Oct. 27, 2014. A four-day high-speed train test between Hangzhou and Nanchang was accomplished on Monday. The railway section that has been under test is part of the 931-kilometer Hangzhou-Changsha Railway, a key component of a greater rail network that eventually joins Shanghai in the east and Kunming in the southwest. [Photo: Xinhua/Han Chuanhao]

A high-speed train driver attends a train test that travels between Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and Nanchang, capital of the neighbouring Jiangxi Province, on Oct. 27, 2014. A four-day high-speed train test between Hangzhou and Nanchang was accomplished on Monday. The railway section that has been under test is part of the 931-kilometer Hangzhou-Changsha Railway, a key component of a greater rail network that eventually joins Shanghai in the east and Kunming in the southwest. [Photo: Xinhua/Han Chuanhao]

 

[cirr]

Special high-speed rail tour lines set up for APEC

Oct 28,2014

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- According to a statement by an official from the Beijing Railway Bureau issued on October 18, several high-speed railway tourist lines will be launched for Beijing residents during the APEC meetings.

The 6 tourism lines are designed by China Railway Travel Service Group to meet travelling needs for locals’ APEC vacation.

The first line is a 5-day trip to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing. The second one is 4-day trip to Xi’an, Huashan Mountain and the Terracotta Army Museum. The third one is to Hefei and Jiuhua Mountain for 4 days. The fourth is a 7-day trip to Changsha, Shaoshan Mountain, Zhangjiajie, Huanglongdong Cave and Furong Town. The fifth is to Jinan, Taishan Mountain and Qufu for 4 days. And the sixth is a 5-day trip to Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and Penglai.

Additional railway tourist line options will be provided by China Railway Travel Service Group in the near future, providing transport to tourist locations in Chongqing municipality and to some cities in Henan and Anhui provinces.

(Source: china.org.cn)

 

[cirr]

China's giant train makers expected to merge

28.10.2014

China's top two train producers have been reported to be in merger talks in a bid to halt their unproductive rivalry and compete better with Western companies. Exporting Chinese technology is seen as key.



China's top train makers, CNR and CSR, are currently engaged in merger talks, state media reported Tuesday.

The official China Securities Journal claimed the firms had already set up working groups to discuss the details of the integration, which aimed at creating a giant able to compete globally with the likes of Germany's Siemens and Canada's Bombardier.

The two Chinese companies have been fierce rivals in selling their technology abroad, and analysts have argued a merger would enable them to profit from a joint technology base.

Moving fast

China succeeded in building the world's longest high-speed train network in less than a decade. Its leading train producers have frequently voiced their desire to become a larger technology exporter. CSR, for its part, said at Germany's Innotrans railway technology fair in mid-September that it was aiming to boost its activities on the European market.

A merged CNR-CSR would have combined annual revenue of $32.7 billion (25.7 billion euros), based on 2013 company data.

Profiting from an 80-billion-euro government investment program this year, the two companies are expected to produce about 300 new high-speed trains annually. According to German news agency dpa, that is more than Deutsche Bahn's total ICE rolling stock.

 

[DeVice]

^
I prefer no merger. I call it as monopoly.

 

[TaiShang]

Special high-speed rail tour lines set up for APEC

Oct 28,2014

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- According to a statement by an official from the Beijing Railway Bureau issued on October 18, several high-speed railway tourist lines will be launched for Beijing residents during the APEC meetings.

The 6 tourism lines are designed by China Railway Travel Service Group to meet travelling needs for locals’ APEC vacation.

The first line is a 5-day trip to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing. The second one is 4-day trip to Xi’an, Huashan Mountain and the Terracotta Army Museum. The third one is to Hefei and Jiuhua Mountain for 4 days. The fourth is a 7-day trip to Changsha, Shaoshan Mountain, Zhangjiajie, Huanglongdong Cave and Furong Town. The fifth is to Jinan, Taishan Mountain and Qufu for 4 days. And the sixth is a 5-day trip to Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and Penglai.

Additional railway tourist line options will be provided by China Railway Travel Service Group in the near future, providing transport to tourist locations in Chongqing municipality and to some cities in Henan and Anhui provinces.

(Source: china.org.cn)

Good opportunity to market China's world's best HSR technology. Pure politics without economics is lame and empty talk shop.

Rail convergence goes on fast track

A test-running bullet train at the Hami station in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The high-speed railway from Lanzhou, Gansu province, to Urumqi, Xinjiang, is expected to go into service at the end of this year. [Provided to China Daily]

China CNR, CSR merger to create strong global competitor, experts say

The
impending merger of China's top trainmakers, China CNR and CSR Corp, will end the harmful price war between the two companies in overseas markets and give the merged entity a clear edge over other global peers, industry experts said on Tuesday.

The government has ordered the merger of CNR and CSR into one company to fuel robust growth, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.

Both companies had suspended trading in their shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges on Monday and said they would make a major announcement within five working days.

Wang Mengshu, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an ardent supporter of the move, said the merger is not just about making a change, but a step to prevent unhealthy competition and aid the further development of China's rail and relevant industries.

Bloomberg reported that details of the transaction are yet to be set, with China International Capital Corp said to be drafting the plan for merging the two companies' listed arms.

The merger of the listed units will create a company with $33.6 billion of sales and $1.44 billion net income in the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China CNR Corp and CSR Corp have a combined market value of $26 billion in Hong Kong trading and employed 172,647 workers at the end of 2013.

Eager to grab more share in the overseas market, CNR and CSR have often been competing fiercely against each other to win orders. Examples of these include the 2011 locomotive project in Turkey, the electric locomotive bid in Argentina last year and projects in several other global markets.

Though the Chinese trainmakers did not face much difficulty in surpassing the prices offered by peers from Europe, Canada, Japan and South Korea, they had to confront each other with even lower prices to win the order.

"The irrational competition between two Chinese counterparts squeezed profit margins and sometimes pushed them to fight for orders, a situation in which no profit could be earned," said Wang.

CNR and CSR were initially part of China National Railway Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Co, the trainmaker under the defunct Ministry of Railways.

The ministry divided the company into two parts - CNR and CSR - in 2000, and they equally shared 40 train factories, part plants and research institutes owned by the parent company in accordance with their geographical location.

In the domestic market, the northern part of China is CNR's market focus, while the southern China market is seen as a CSR stronghold.

After operating high-speed trains in the domestic market for more than five years, China's high-speed trains and other advanced trains have become pillar items in the nation's high-tech product exports.

Feng Hao, a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation at the National Development and Reform Commission, said the consolidation would boost export flexibility and the chances to win more overseas orders.

"The continued price war between the two companies has not only cut profits, but also affected China's ability to sell high-tech products such as high-speed trains and electric multiple-units in the global market," said Feng.

Thanks to big-ticket subway orders placed by Boston transport authorities last week, the share prices of CNR and CSR both rose on Friday, which also boosted the stock value of other rail-related companies in the past three days, including railway infrastructure construction, rail parts and new material companies.

FACTBOX

China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp (China CNR Corp)

Established in: 2008

Revenue in 2013: 97.24 billion yuan

Exports: 80 countries and regions

Listed in Shanghai (2009) and Hong Kong (2014) stock exchanges

Subsidiaries: 29

Employees: 89,000

Headquarters: Beijing

China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp Ltd (China CSR Corp)

Established: 2007

Revenue in 2013: 97.9 billion yuan

Exports: 83 countries and regions

Listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong (2008) stock exchanges

Subsidiaries: 20

Employees: 91,000

Headquarters: Beijing

SOURCES: WEBSITES OF CHINA CSR AND CNR CORP

 

[cirr]

^
I prefer no merger. I call it as monopoly.

There is no point in having two Chinese train builders fight each other when bidding for contracts overseas，now that the domestic market is seeing a gradual slow-down。

A combined Chinese train maker will be even more competitive against foreign rivals。

The dozen or so of large state-owned steelmakers should take a page from the two trainmakers and merge to form 3-4 steel groups that are truly world champions。

Train merger could be China’s ticket to elite club

By Ethan Bilby

OCTOBER 29, 2014

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

China’s bullet-train builders are on track for a tie-up that might help secure membership of an elite club. At first glance, merging CNR and CSR into a domestic monopoly sounds like a step backwards. But it would help China better compete against an oligopoly of big, rich-world rivals. For a growing superpower, that probably seems a good enough reason to bend the market norms.

CNR and CSR are already pretty large. They were the top two global manufacturers of rail vehicles by new sales in 2012, according to consultancy SCI Verkehr. Melding them together would make a behemoth with $32 billion of sales last year.

The combination, which Chinese state media said on Oct. 28 is under discussion, would also see an experiment with market forces come full circle. The formation of two train companies in the early 2000s – one in the north and one in the south – was a reformist move to bring competition to the industry. By contrast, this latest idea would give them power to dictate prices to China’s national rail operator.

The groups look evenly matched on paper. CSR made $8.1 billion in sales in the six months ending June, roughly 30 percent more than CNR. But their gross margins were similar, around 19 percent. Pooling research and development could save on costs and add 14 percent to last year’s combined earnings, Barclays estimates.

But China may have its eyes on a bigger prize. High-speed rail is more a global than domestic industry, and most countries only have one big supplier. Awkwardly, both Chinese rivals put in bids to build a line in California. Having two contenders for projects in a small club of companies like Siemens and Hitachi is distracting. A tie-up could help in the same way forming the trans-national airplane maker Airbus helped Europe compete with U.S. rival Boeing.

Should the union happen, Chinese steel groups, and municipal operators who buy trains, may lose out. Regulators would need to keep a close watch. But consumers are likely insulated, as train fares in China are tightly regulated anyway. If a combined group helps China compete abroad and become a credible, high-tech train maker, it might leave citizens better off.

 

[cirr]

China Merging Trainmakers Adds to Pressure on Siemens

By Alex Webb and Clement Tan October 28, 2014


Passengers board a Shenzhen to Guangzhou China Railway high-speed train at the Luohu railway station in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. China is expanding the world’s largest high-speed rail network to help sustain a three-decade economic boom. Photographer: Forbes Conrad/Bloomberg

China’s plan to merge its two biggest trainmakers may allow the country to win more overseas orders with improved and cheaper offerings, increasing pressure on rivals including Siemens AG, Alstom SA (ALO) and Bombardier Inc.

China’s State Council has ordered the merger of China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Group Corp. and southern counterpart CSR Group into one company, government officials involved in the transaction said yesterday. The pair are already the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 in rail equipment, each getting more than 90 percent of their sales from China.

“This would create a very strong global competitor,” said Ingo-Martin Schachel, a Frankfurt-based Commerzbank AG analyst who rates Siemens (SIE) shares hold. “It would heighten the need for consolidation among the western manufacturers.”

The increased competition from China comes at a time when manufacturers such as Germany’s Siemens and France’s Alstom are facing constrained public spending in their home markets. China is competing aggressively for overseas rail projects, targeting emerging markets such as Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Premier Li Keqiang has touted the country’s rail equipment, engineering and construction companies during overseas trips, signing several deals along the way.

Last week, Boston awarded CNR a $567 million contract to supply trains for the city’s subway system, the first deal of its kind for a Chinese company in the U.S. CNR offered the cheapest price among five bidders and a little more than half of the bid by Montreal-based Bombardier. (BBD/B)

European Woes

Europe’s biggest engineering company Siemens this year unsuccessfully tried to combine its ailing train operations with Alstom’s transport business as part of an asset swap to buy the French company’s energy assets. Alstom instead sold energy assets to General Electric Co. and will receive the U.S. company’s rail-signaling unit in exchange.

Siemens’s transportation business, with about 6 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in annual revenue, has burdened profit at the Munich-based company since 2011 as delays to orders from German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG precipitated hundreds of millions of euros in charges. In contrast, Alstom’s transport arm, which makes products ranging from signalling equipment and trams to regional railcars and long-distance trains, has been reporting rising sales and profitability.

High-Speed Competition

The combined Chinese entity would have annual sales of $33.6 billion and a net income of $1.44 billion and also challenge the high-speed products of both Alstom and Siemens, which operate under the respective TGV and ICE brands in France and Germany.

China is expanding the world’s largest high-speed rail network to help sustain a three-decade economic boom. In December, CSR and China CNR (601299) won bids for 258 bullet trains worth as much as 44.3 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) to serve the growing network. CSR builds high-speed trains on its own and in a venture with Bombardier.

Representatives for Siemens and Bombardier declined to comment on the potential market impact of a merged Chinese trainmaker. Alstom couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Japanese trainmakers such as Hitachi Ltd. are also seeking orders abroad as demand for new railroads shrinks at home, where the population is falling. Hitachi, described on its website as “the key player” in the Shinkansen bullet train, said in December it was working on new rail orders that could lead it to consider a plant in Germany or expansion of a facility that it’s building in Newton Aycliffe, England, following successful contract bids in the U.K.

Merger Details

Details of the Chinese merger are yet to be set, and China International Capital Corp. is drafting a plan for combining the two companies’ listed arms, said the officials, who asked not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

China CNR Corp. (6199) and CSR Corp. (1766), the two listed entities of the trainmakers, have a combined market value of $26 billion based on their last trading prices in Hong Kong. The two had 172,647 workers at the end of last year, the data show. The two companies said Oct. 27 they will make a “major” announcement within five working days.

While European spending on infrastructure projects has been sluggish, other markets are set to boost investments, Nicholas Heymann, a New York-based William Blair & Co. analyst, said in an Oct. 21 telephone interview.

“Emerging markets have surged,” he said. “People are gassed up about South America, that’s tangible and real.” India plans to spend $93 billion over 15 years to upgrade and modernize infrastructure, he said.

The increased competition from China may also force the likes of Siemens to develop new offerings and invest more in research and development.

Heymann said he met with Siemens’s representatives in September and was disappointed by the products the German company showed him.

“I said to them ‘It’s really nice of you to spend two hours with me, but where the hell is the beef in the burger?’”

To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Webb in Munich at awebb25@bloomberg.net; Clement Tan in Hong Kong at ctan297@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net; Simon Thiel at sthiel1@bloomberg.net Simon Thiel, Christopher Jasper

 

[cirr]

The Chengdu-Mianyang-Leshan HSR in Sichuan Province to open for passengers soon：

Length：312km
Stations：21
Operating speed：300km/h

 

[cirr]

The National Development and Reform Commission approved on 30.10.2014 the constructions of three new railways：

（1）the Lhasa-Nyingchi segment of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway
（2）the Datong-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway(HSR)
（3）the West Inner Mongolian to Central China rail corridor for transport of coal

all for a total investment of 250 billion yuan($40.7 billion)。

Work to start immediately.

发改委再批3条铁路项目 总投资额达2476.3亿元|铁路项目|国家发改委_凤凰资讯

 

[cirr]

Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway：

Right along south bank of the Yaluzangbu River and the LOC。

 

[cirr]

Faster Changsha link by year end

2014-11-03 08:58

Shanghai DailyWeb Editor: Qian Ruisha

A new high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Changsha in central China's Hunan Province will open before the end of the year, the Shanghai Railway Bureau said over the weekend.

This will cut the high-speed journey between the two cities from seven hours to five, said officials.

And it will be about 10 hours faster than the K533, K137 and K1373 standard train services making the journey.

The 931-kilometer section of line between Changsha and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province is part of the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway. That will become fully operational in 2017.

The new section will connect with the Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway by the year end, providing a faster link between the middle of China and the Yangtze River Delta, said officials.

The section will pass through Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

While the trains can reach 350 kilometers per hour, the operational speed will be limited to 300km/h, said the bureau.

The bureau ran test operations on part of the section between Hangzhou and Nanchang in Jiangxi Province between July and late October.

And a two-month training program has begun for 415 crew members and 1,800 engineers who will be operating the new section, the bureau said.

As another section of the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway, the Nanchang-Changsha High-Speed Railway, went into operation on September 16.

China has the world's longest high-speed railway network, which covered a distance of 10,000km of track by the end of 2013.

Seven more lines are scheduled to be complete before the end of the year, Xinhua news agency said.

 

[cirr]

Qingdao-Yantai-Weihai-Rongcheng Intercity Railway to Open Soon

CRH2 bullet trains test run in Shandong Province, Eastern China.

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xinhuanet

 

[cirr]

Zhengzhou-Kaifeng Intercity Railway Ready to Roll

CRH380A tests run in Henan Province, Central China.

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people.com.cn

 

[TaiShang]

Xinjiang high-speed railway to start this month

A high-speed rail line connecting Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the region's Hami Prefecture will begin operations on November 16, China Railway Corporation (CRC) announced on Wednesday.

It is part of the 1,776-kilometer Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway that stretches across Northwest China's Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang.

The bullet trains will initially run at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. Travel time between Urumqi and Hami will be reduced from five to around three hours.

China started building the 530-kilometer rail link in January 2010.

The rest of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway will be in operation by the end of 2014.

"The high-speed railway will further improve travel conditions for all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. It will also facilitate the economic and social development in the autonomous region," the CRC said in a statement.

 

[cirr]

Xinjiang high-speed railway to start this month

A high-speed rail line connecting Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the region's Hami Prefecture will begin operations on November 16, China Railway Corporation (CRC) announced on Wednesday.

It is part of the 1,776-kilometer Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway that stretches across Northwest China's Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang.

The bullet trains will initially run at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. Travel time between Urumqi and Hami will be reduced from five to around three hours.

China started building the 530-kilometer rail link in January 2010.

The rest of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway will be in operation by the end of 2014.

"The high-speed railway will further improve travel conditions for all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. It will also facilitate the economic and social development in the autonomous region," the CRC said in a statement.

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