Bombardier Partner CSR Puzhen Wins Order for Low-Floor Trams in China

 

CSR Puzhen holds a 10-year-license to produce trams based on BOMBARDIER FLEXITY 2 technology

CSR Puzhen holds a 10-year-license to produce trams based on BOMBARDIER FLEXITY 2 technology

Following the first public tender for modern 100% low-floor trams in China, Bombardier partner CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co. Ltd. (CSR Puzhen), a subsidiary of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation Limited, has won an order for 18 low-floor trams for the city of Suzhou. CSR Puzhen will build the trams, based on Bombardier Transportation’s FLEXITY 2 technology, at its site in Nanjing, China. Bombardier will support the project under a technology license agreement.

Suzhou New District Tram Co., Ltd. (SND) will operate the trams within the Suzhou new & high-tech industrial development zone, a “greenfield” satellite city within Suzhou municipality. Suzhou is a city of 11 million people located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, close to Shanghai. The new tram network of six lines is due to form the backbone of the SND public transport system. The current tender applies to the first 18 km line, which will initially feature 18 vehicles serving seven stations.

This is the first order won by CSR Puzhen under the new partnership with Bombardier. The two parties signed a technology license agreement in July 2012 for a 10-year license to sell and manufacture 100 per cent low-floor trams using Bombardier’s technology in China (including Hong Kong and Macao).

Jianwei Zhang, President of Bombardier China, said: “Low-floor trams have strong potential in China, with more than 10 Chinese cities currently working on projects for modern 100% low-floor vehicles. Bombardier’s global trams expertise makes it a natural partner in China’s first public tender project in this field.”

The five-section bi-directional, multi-articulated low-floor trams for Suzhou will be 32 m long and 2.65 m wide. These new low-floor trams provide the latest standards in safety, passenger comfort, accessibility and energy consumption.

Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has sold more than 1,200 FLEXITY 100 per cent low-floor trams worldwide. About 3,500 Bombardier trams and light rail vehicles are in revenue service or on order in approximately 100 cities across Europe, Australia and North America.

In order to sustain global economic growth while ensuring the health and quality of life of citizens, cities the world over are looking for smarter and more environmentally friendly forms of mass transit. Trams and light rail vehicles are the most energy efficient mode of transportation, consuming up to five times less energy per passenger than cars travelling with an average of between one and two people.