1. Germany-based Knorr-Bremse Group has won new orders worth €0.5bn to supply brake and bogie equipment for 435 eight-car high-speed trains, as well as door and HVAC systems for a series of China Railway wagon sets. The company's railway vehicle systems division will supply the equipment. The manufacturers have chosen Knorr-Bremse and its Chinese subsidiaries and joint ventures to supply the equipment.
"It is also extremely important for our customers that, despite the tight schedule, we can deliver on time as well as providing the appropriate technical support through our locally-based engineers and service staff."
One part of the orders involves Knorr-Bremse and its Chinese joint venture partners installing HVAC systems on more than 80 trains and door systems in over 200 trains.
The company also secured an option to supply the equipment in a further 110 trains.
Knorr-Bremse Group has 13 production plants in China, including those run under joint venture agreements.
The introduction of reforms by the Chinese Ministry of Railways in the spring of 2013 has been followed by a new set of investments in railway infrastructure and rail transport.
Recent issues with abnormal wear of safety critical components in railway bogies and resulting derailments have caused further investigations of the non-metallic parts.
The shocking discovery was that cheap plastic components, neither specified on the drawings nor approved, were used in these cases. Not complying with specifications and using non-original materials was the leading cause of many unfortunate accidents.
These cheap plastic materials, also called thermoplastics or thermosoftening plastics, are polymers which become pliable or mouldable above a specific temperature and return to a solid state upon cooling.
While this allows for low-cost manufacturing of the parts, it also causes the finished product to be rubbery and dimensionally unstable.
Plastic materials are not reinforced, and are severely affected by changes in atmospheric moisture, heat and high loads. Obviously the wrong material for use in the arduous and high-load environments of any railway application.
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