Did you know that Qingdao is the home to one of the world’s top locomotive and passenger train car manufacturers, called CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company, based in Sifang, Qingdao?
Rolling stock is the industry term used to refer to vehicles built for use on a railway, and Sifang is a district in the north of Qingdao where CRRC is based.
There is also a fairly good sized train station in Sifang that was used as Qingdao’s main station during the renovation of the Qingdao Railway Station before the 2008 Summer Olympics (for which Qingdao hosted the Sailing Regatta).
Founded by Germany’s relevant authorities in 1900, it’s been one of the major train car makers in China for years and has also built a solid base of customers around the world from Beijing to Buenos Aires and Chengdu to Chicago.
Recently it was announced that Qingdao Sifang has provided the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) with a bunch of trains just before Christmas 2017, which are scheduled to be in use by summer 2018. If you’re on the train in HK, keep an eye out for that CRRC sticker and feel that Qingdao pride.
From Metro Report
CRRC Qingdao Sifang rolled out the first of 93 eight-car metro trainsets for Hong Kong on December 21. It is expected to enter passenger service in the second half of 2018, with deliveries of the entire order scheduled to be completed in 2023.
In 2015 Hong Kong MTR Corp awarded CRRC predecessor CSR Qingdao Sifang a HK$6bn contract to supply rolling stock that it would use to replace all the first-generation trains in operation on the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Island and Tseung Kwan O lines.
The stainless steel body trainsets have a maximum speed of 80 km/h, and feature dynamic route maps, improved lighting, double-branched handrails and soft material hand straps.
Check out some of our earlier posts about CRRC, formerly known as CSR, and their involvement with Bombardier.
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