China: Bombardier Partner CSR Puzhen to Supply Catenary-Free Trams to Nanjing

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 15 catenary-free low-floor trams for the city of Nanjing.

The trams for the capital of China’s Jiangsu Province, home to over eight million people, will serve two lines in its downtown districts. The new order follows an order for 18 low-floor trams won by CSR Puzhen in January 2013 for the city of Suzhou.

CSR Puzhen will build the trams, based on Bombardier’s FLEXITY 2 technology, at its site in Nanjing. Bombardier will supply the propulsion and controls equipment, the bogies and battery systems as well as support the project under a 10-year technology license agreement signed in 2012 for CSR Puzhen to sell and manufacture 100 per cent low-floor trams using Bombardier’s technology in China (including Hong Kong and Macao).

The new trams for Nanjing will operate without overhead cables on 90 percent of the lines based on Bombardier’s new PRIMOVE Li-Ion battery systems. They are due to enter revenue service in 2014 in Hexi New City, which is in the south-west of Nanjing, and in Qilin Science and Technology Innovation Park, which is in the east of Nanjing.

The 8 km long Hexi line will receive eight vehicles to serve 13 stations, connecting two stops on metro lines 1 and 2 with the venues of the Youth Olympic Games. The 9 km long Qilin line, which features steep sections and a partly elevated route across highways, will receive seven vehicles. On this demanding route, the reliable and efficient catenary-free operation (CFO) based on PRIMOVE batteries will prove the suitability of these batteries for CFO tram systems for almost any line worldwide.

“Cities are looking for smarter and more environmentally friendly forms of transport like these modern trams to sustain economic growth while ensuring the health and quality of life of citizens,” said André Navarri, president and chief operating officer, Bombardier Transportation. “Together with our partner CSR Puzhen we will deliver the world’s first trams for revenue service with our new light-weight PRIMOVE batteries to the booming metropolis Nanjing. After three contracts for PRIMOVE inductive charging and PRIMOVE batteries for electric buses, this is the next major milestone in bringing clean and unlimited wireless e-mobility to cities around the world.”

Jianwei Zhang, president of Bombardier China, added “There is a big potential market for low-floor trams in China. Through the successful partnership with CSR Puzhen, Bombardier has become one of the pioneers in this field in China. Following China's first publicly tendered 100 per cent low-floor tram line in Suzhou city, for which Bombardier's partner CSR Puzhen supplies the vehicles, the Nanjing Hexi and Qilin projects are among the first steel-wheel tram lines adopting catenary-free power supply technology in China.”

The contract also confirms Bombardier’s two-tier CFO strategy for trams, which includes a standard PRIMOVE solution for partial CFO using high-power PRIMOVE batteries as well as a premium PRIMOVE solution for complete CFO systems using both PRIMOVE inductive charging and PRIMOVE batteries.

Each of the 32 meters long and 2.65 meters wide trams for Nanjing will be equipped with two PRIMOVE battery systems. The new modular traction batteries have been specifically designed for the integration on trams and electric buses. 

The trams for Nanjing will be powered by Bombardier MITRAC 500 propulsion and controls equipment, which is suited to catenary-free solutions and battery assisted propulsion like PRIMOVE. 

The vehicles will also be equipped with the Bombardier FLEXX Urban 3000 bogies. Their design combines low-floor vehicle architecture with the robustness of standard axle bogie technology.