A consortium formed by China Railway Second Courtyard Group Engineering Co., Ltd. and a Russian company signed a survey and design contract with Russian Railways on Wednesday, marking a substantial step forward in China-Russia high-speed rail cooperation, the company said.
It is learnt that the two sides signed the "Moscow-Kazan-Yekaterinburg" Moscow-Kazan section of the high-speed railway project survey, regional land survey design and construction design documents for the operation contract.
According to the contract, a consortium led by the Moscow Transportation Design Institute, China Railway Second Institute Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and the Nizhny Novgorod Metro Design Institute will undertake the survey and design work of the high-speed railway. The project will be carried out from 2015 to 2016, with a contract value of 20.79 billion rubles (about 380 million U.S. dollars).
The Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway is part of Russia's Strategic Plan for Transport Development 2030, promulgated in November 2008, and will be extended to Yekaterinburg in the future. The planned total mileage of the project is 770 kilometers. When completed, the train time between Moscow and Kazan will be reduced from the current 14 hours to 3.5 hours. The project is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2018 World Cup.
In a telephone interview, Zhu Ying, general manager of the Second Institute of China Railway, told reporters that the project signing is of great significance for China's high-speed rail "going global". It is not only the overall progress of China's high-speed rail industry that gives the enterprise confidence and strength, but more importantly, the winning weapon comes from the strong "team" behind the enterprise.
"[The team] includes the central level, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the China Railway Corporation, the National Railway Administration and the China Development Bank, and they have provided a complete set of solutions for Russian projects, from investment and financing, survey and design, construction and operation and maintenance. At present, this is a relatively effective model for China's high-speed rail to go global." 'he said.
With a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour, the Mokha high-speed railway adopts common passenger and cargo rail. Except for the different gauge, the Mokha high-speed railway basically adopts Chinese standards. When completed in the future, the project is expected to connect to Urumqi, forming a high-speed passenger channel between the two countries.
"China's high-speed trains are usually designed to run at a maximum speed of around 350 kilometers per hour. To go up to 400 kilometers per hour, a seemingly small increase of 50 kilometers per hour does not just mean a difference in numbers." Jiang Dengwei, head of the overall design of Russia's high-speed rail project at the Second China Railway Institute, said China's mastery of high-speed rail theories, technologies and rich operational experience ensured that the design of a 400 km/h train was "no problem".
"The test running speed of the domestically produced CRH380 bullet train has reached 486 km/h, and CRRC has specially designed and manufactured high-cold bullet trains operating in high-cold regions, with guaranteed lines and bodies." Jiang said that the project is not only a simple design and construction, but also in the technical consultation, survey and design, construction management, construction, supervision, joint testing and equipment supporting, operation and maintenance, education and training for Russia's high-speed railway construction to provide a full life cycle of services.
Zhou Guohua, executive director of the China High-speed Rail International Development Collaborative Innovation Center at Southwest Jiaotong University, said the signing of the project will promote the implementation of the national strategy and dispel previous doubts about China's high-speed rail technology in some countries.
"The winning section of the high-speed railway is located in the northern part of Russia, in an alpine region with very complicated geological and climatic conditions. It is also a high-speed railway line with common passenger and cargo routes and a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour, which proves China's railway technological strength." 'he said.
Mr Zhou says that although China has been involved in many foreign railway projects before, it has mostly been at the construction level. The design qualification means that China's high-speed rail standards are gradually being recognized by the world.