A visitor takes a look at a model locomotive train made by China CNF at an exhibition in Beijing. (Photo : www.scmp.com)
China is set to provide the United Kingdom (U.K.) with state-of-the-art trains that will run on U.K.’s first high-speed rail, the China Daily reported.
This developed following China CNR Corporation Limited's merger with CSR Corp. to become the world's largest maker of rolling stock in terms of sales.
According to the report, the Chinese company will have the opportunity to supply trains for U.K.'s HS2, a high-speed project that connects London with the Northern England and the English Midlands.
The report said that Chinese firms have the competitive advantage for the project, not only in the U.K. but in other European countries as well, due to their advanced technology, extensive experience and the cost-efficiency of Chinese trains.
"Western companies, such as Germany's Siemens AG and France's Alstom, entered the high-speed rail sector earlier, but no countries in the world have a high-speed rail network as extensive as China's," Yu Weiping, vice-president of CNR Corp., told China Daily at a recent rail exhibition in the U.K.
Yu added that China has about 60 percent of the world's high-speed railways and its high-speed rail network is also one of the world's most complicated. He said that China's trains can adapt to diverse climate and geographic situations and can run in any country in the world.
Yu's team have been following the HS2 project and they have been negotiating with U.K. authorities about the project.
The HS2 project has two phases, with the first phase, linking London and Birmingham, to start construction in 2017. The project is estimated to cost 22 billion pounds ($34.1 billion) and the expected opening date would be in 2026. The second phase will be the extension to Manchester and Leeds and the opening date will be 2033.
The report said that the other companies interested in the project include Japan's Hitachi Ltd., Siemens and Alstom.
