Bombardier Delivers First High-Grade Intercity Passenger
Cars to China
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--JANUARY 15, 2003 - 08:00 EST
Today, Bombardier Transportation and its joint
venture partners, Power Corporation of Canada and China National
Railway Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corporation (LORIC),
delivered 22 high-grade intercity cars to the Shanghai Railways
Administration Bureau in the People's Republic of China. These
cars are the initial part of an order for 300 cars awarded in
1999 to the joint venture, Bombardier Sifang Power (Qingdao)
Transportation Ltd., by the Ministry of Railways of the People's
Republic of China. The Shanghai Bureau will receive a total of 70
cars, while the remainder will be delivered to the Beijing
Bureau, the Shenyang Bureau, the Zhengzhou Bureau and the
Guangzhou Bureau.
These first 22 cars, which can reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h,
will be operating on the Shanghai-Hangzhou line. The first trains
entered revenue service today. The vehicles are produced at the
joint venture's facility, located in Qingdao, Shandong province,
some 650 kilometres Southeast of Beijing. Two prototypes were
manufactured by Bombardier Transportation at its Crespin, France
facility and tested in China. The advanced technology to build
the vehicles was thereafter transferred from Bombardier to the
joint venture.
Commenting on the event, Pierre Lortie, President and Chief
Operating Officer of Bombardier Transportation, stated, "As a
Canadian company, we are honoured to be actively supporting the
efforts of the China Ministry of Railways to modernize its rail
system. The first-class partnership with our Chinese colleagues
makes it a very special day for us to introduce these high-grade
passenger coaches to Chinese travellers."
Bombardier Sifang Power (BSP) is the first and only joint venture
between a Chinese company and foreign partners to produce
intercity passenger cars in China. It was established in 1998
with a view to manufacturing rail passenger cars for China, one
of the world's largest markets for intercity rail passenger
vehicles, as well as for external markets.
Bombardier Transportation has another joint venture in China.
This joint venture, Changchun Bombardier Railway Vehicles Co.
Ltd. (CBRC), is dedicated to the production of metro vehicles.
Three contracts have been awarded to CBRC, one by the City of
Guangzhou for 156 vehicles for the city's Line 2, one by the City
of Shenzhen for 132 metro cars for Phase 1 of its metro network,
and another one by the city of Shanghai for 60 additional metro
cars for its metro Line 1.
Including its joint ventures, Bombardier Transportation currently
employs approximately 900 people in China. It has offices
located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong in addition
to its joint venture facilities.
Bombardier Transportation is the global leader in the rail
equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its wide range of
products includes passenger rail cars and total transit systems.
It also manufactures locomotives, freight cars, propulsion &
controls and provides rail control solutions.
Bombardier Inc., a diversified manufacturing and services
company, is a world-leading manufacturer of business jets,
regional aircraft, rail transportation equipment and motorized
recreational products. It also provides financial services and
asset management in business areas aligned with its core
expertise. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, the Corporation has
a workforce of some 80,000 people in 24 countries throughout the
Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Its revenues for the fiscal
year ended Jan. 31, 2002 stood at $21.6 billion Cdn. Bombardier
trades on the Toronto, Brussels and Frankfurt stock exchanges
(BBD, BOM and BBDd.F). |
