CR450 – fresh Chinese train at 400 km/h

China State Railway Group, a Chinese state railway operator, presented on Sunday, December 29, 2024 a prototype of the composition of the railways of fresh speeds called CR450. The company announced that this train can scope a maximum velocity of 450 km/h and will be operated at commercial operating velocity of 400 km/h.

The CR450 task was launched in 2021 to make "safer, more environmentally friendly, more energy-efficient and more intelligent" trains. Work to increase train speeds to 400 km/h began in 2018, and prototype production officially began in 2024. The construction of a train moving at specified a velocity required the improvement of fresh systems, specified as braking systems, modified energy collection systems, and monitoring systems for the correct operation of components.

New trains will replace CR400 with a series of high-speed "Fuxing" trains, vehicles that presently drive at speeds of up to 350 km/h and are the fastest specified trains in the world.

The first CR450 will combine Beijing with Shanghai, shortening travel time with the present 4 hours 30 minutes, to 3 hours 20 minutes.

The prototype presented on Sunday, and previously seen during the test drive on the way from Tianjin to Beijing, is to lead worldwide in terms of operating speed, energy consumption, interior sound and braking efficiency.

The CR450 train weighs about 10 tons, making it more than 10 percent lighter than its predecessor. Work opposition and energy consumption rates were reduced by about 20 percent, while braking efficiency was improved by about 20 percent.

China Railway announced on Sunday that the next step would be to submit a prototype series of tests and performance assessments. It was not specified erstwhile the train would enter service. It was only announced that the company would aim to bring CR450 into commercial operation as shortly as possible. According to erstwhile reports, this train is scheduled to enter service on the Beijing-Shanghai way during the year, i.e. at the turn of 2025 and 2026.

According to the state news agency Xinhua, China has the world's largest high-speed rail network of 47,000 km. In 2023 about 2,000 km of fresh railway lines were commissioned.

The first high-speed Chinese railway way was launched between Beijing and Tianjin in 2008 before the Beijing Olympics.

China began working on the Fuxing series in 2012, and 5 years later launched high-speed trains – full designed and built in China. In 2012, then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, during his visit to Warsaw, offered Poland joint work on launching an experimental high-speed railway line in our country. This proposal did not meet any reaction of the Polish side.

Leszek B. Glass

Email: [email protected]

© www.chiny24.com