China Railway Corp consortium to bid for HSR project

A Chinese consortium led by China Railway Corp will bid for the high-speed railroad (HSR) linking Malaysia and Singapore in 2018, marking another step in China’s ambitious strategy to export its high-speed railway technologies to Southeast Asia, said Ecns.cn today.

The media office of the Beijing-headquartered China Railway Rolling Stock Co confirmed this move but declined to give any specific details as the matter is still in progress, the report said.

The consortium, consisting of eight companies including CRRC, China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd, China Railway Signal and Communication Co and Export-Import Bank of China, covers the design, construction, telecommunication, financing, operating and maintenance sectors for the high-speed rail network.

“Judging these companies’ size and resources, they will form the largest group to build a high-speed rail network outside China if they win the bid next year,” said Feng Hao, a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation at the National Development and Reform Commission.

“The move indicates that China’s State-owned enterprises have stopped cutthroat competition to hurt each other,” said Du Chunbu, a professor of rail transportation at Beijing Jiaotong University.

“Instead, they have started to form a consortium to better compete with rivals from Japan, South Korea, Germany and Canada by bringing their specialties into play.”

A joint tender for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project was issued by the Malaysian and Singaporean government-owned utilities－MyHSR Corp and SG HSR, on Dec 20.

According to a joint statement released by the two companies, the potential bidder would be responsible for the design, construction, financing, operating and maintenance of rolling stock and railway systems for the double-track line with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

THE UK’s engineering consultants are also bidding for highly-skilled and specialised rail job packages in Malaysia.

Nearly 20 of its Railway Industry Association’s 200 members are keen to bid for niche jobs in the light rail transit and construction of the Mass Rapid Transit, East Coast Rail Link and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail, said its exports director Neil Walker, said the New Straits Times.

“We see good prospects in Malaysia for UK companies and our members in sharing rail technology and innovation,” said an official from the UK’s engineering consultants group.