China to order 586 locomotives, 40,000 freight cars

China Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC) has issued RFPs (requests for proposals) for contracts to supply 586 electric locomotives and 40,000 freight cars to China Railway Corporation (CRC).

The electric locomotive order is divided into three lots, comprising 91 160km/h (100 mph) six-axle passenger locomotives, 191 9.6MW (12,875 hp) eight-axle freight locomotives, and 304 7.2MW (9,955 hp) six-axle freight units.

The car order comprises two lots and calls for the supply of 20,000 type X70 intermodal cars, and 20,000 type NX70A flat cars.

China’s freight volume totaled 2.65 billion tons in 2016, down 2.3% from 2015, according to CRC.

China operates freight services to 15 European cities, including the experimental East Wind, a two-week, 12,000-km (7,440-mile)  trip from Yiwu to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France.