By Zhang Lipeng in Beijing | CRRC | Updated: 31/01/2018
On January 26, MTR released news that the new train has arrived in Hong Kong early that day. The new train, tested earlier, arrived in Hong Kong from Qingdao via the sea on the 26th and was hoisted to the shore at the MTR small Tsuen Wan car factory.
In 2015, CRRC Sifang successfully bade for the Hong Kong urban line subway vehicle procurement project in the international bid, with a total of 93 trains (744 vehicles), which was the largest procurement of new cars in MTR.
The train’s body is made of stainless steel with a maximum operating speed of 80km/h and the maximum carrying capacity of eight groups is over 3,000 passengers. The new train carries out the latest and most stringent international fire protection design standards, which is the one with the strongest fire protection measures. At the same time, the car body and the bogie meet both the European and the British standard. The life span of the vehicle is up to 40 years, which is 10 years longer than that of the ordinary subway. The dual redundancy design is adopted in all important systems, which can avoid the operation of vehicles due to single point of failure. The train is also equipped with advanced operation system and many new devices, including the new generation lighting system, dynamic route map, the use of the rug armrest, and the new signal of the urban line.
After the first train arrived in Hong Kong, vehicle preparation, marshalling and a series of rigorous tests would be carried out, including a comprehensive test on the main traffic lane. It is estimated that the first train will be put into service on the Tsuen Wan Line by the end of 2018. Follow-up trains will be gradually introduced to MTR urban lines such as the Kwun Tong Line, Hong Kong Island Line and Tseung Kwan O Line.
