The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Oscar Puenteconcludes his official trip this Saturday to Chinaduring which he visited the facilities of one of the largest railway manufacturers in the world, China Railway Construction Company (CRCC), but without firm commitment to acquire new rolling stock and above all to run the AVE at 350 kilometers per hour on the line which connects Madrid and Barcelona.
The trip allowed him to discover China’s advances in materials, signaling or electrification and transfer the interests of Spain by “continuing to share knowledge and experience in planning, maintenance, security, station management and technological development” in railways, of which China is a world power, according to a note from the ministry.
A few weeks ago, the minister announced this trip to China as a further attempt to consider buying new trainsof which the railway network and Renfe have a growing need, due to the increase in the number of passengers particularly visible in the High Speed and in the forecasts that, when they can travel at 350 kilometers per hour between Madrid and Barcelona, more trains will be needed to respond to the foreseeable increase in frequencies on this line.
With 162,000 kilometers in length, China has one of the most extensive railway networks in the world and it is the first country in terms of high-speed kilometers – behind Spain, as Puente usually points out – and it also has one of the largest railway manufacturers in the world, CRCC, in which Transports had also focused its attention on the need to buy more trains – in addition to the fifty, especially for Cercanías, which should enter service next year -, the saturation of this market and the long supply times.
Even if they are trains less robust, that they would have a the approval process in Spain is more complicated than those of a European manufacturer and a even more difficult maintenanceas well as the magnifying glass from Brussels for possible illegal aid from the Beijing government, the Chinese option began to appear in Puente’s eyes before the difficulties of shopping in Europeas he confirmed after his visit to the factory in September Siemens in Düsseldorf, Germany. Yes, they would have had the advantage of the CRCC training They are usually significantly cheaper those of European manufacturers. According to high-speed train purchases made in recent years, each train costs around 27 million euros.
As happened after the visit to Siemens, the Transport delegation – which also included the president of Renfe, Álvaro Fernández Heredia– returns to Spain without closed commitment to acquire new rolling stock in China. Next week he will explore the market again, still European, with a visit to the Hitachi factory in Florence, who provides Iryo and who is currently the favorite of Transport. A few days ago, Puente explained that Renfe was considering launching two public competitions early next year, for buy trains in the short and medium termwithout there being as yet any evidence of operation beyond the approximately five trains that Renfe hopes to be able to acquire from Siemens from surplus contracts with other rail operators.
Manufacturing and approval
During his visit to China, Puente had the opportunity to visit CRCC headquarters on Fridaywhich in the same way as it is a reference in the manufacture of trains, is also responsible for the construction of the vast railway network of this country. He reviewed the “joint projects” in railway matters with his managers and certified “good harmony” that exists around the AV350 projectthe renewal of the Madrid-Barcelona line which will allow trains to travel over 350 kilometers.
Puente also visited the train certification center, the National Railway Track Test Center (NRTC), owned by the public railway manager, China State Railway Group. It is the only closed rail test track in all of Asia, with 61 kilometers of test track where trains and other technologies operating on China’s high-speed network are tested. There, Puente was particularly interested in advances in security systems. signaling, electrification, security, digitalization and materials testing.
“Spain is in a moment of enormous expansion of its rail network and acquisition of new fleets trains, with the challenges that this implies during their integration into circulation on the network”, contextualized the ministry.
Spain as an air link between China and Latin America
Before focusing on the railway sector, Puente visited the Gotion factory, in Hefei, on Thursday, and on the first day of the visit, last Thursday, he visited the Gotion factory, which specializes in design and manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries electric vehicles and energy storage for industrial, commercial and residential purposes, which assured that it was “already planning” a factory in Valladolidcity of which he was mayor.
This Friday and already in Beijing, the minister also met his Chinese counterpart, Liu Weiwith whom he analyzed bilateral relations and new opportunities for collaboration in rail and maritime transport, for reducing ship emissions or establishing a new net zero emissions framework.
Also of cooperation in the air sector, in which Puente celebrated the “commitment” shown by different companies. Chinese airlines to expand their presence in Spainas a point of connection with Latin America.
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