Alstom and its local joint venture Satee have been awarded two contracts worth a total of €75 million to supply new traction equipment for more than 550 cars due to operate on Chengdu metro lines 3 and 4 and Xi’an metro line 3 from 2015.
Both cities are significantly expanding their existing metro networks. Chengdu - an important economic centre in western China - will count 10 lines (350 km) by 2020, and the historic city of Xi’an - located in central China - will consist of six metro lines by 2018.
Alstom and Satee will provide the metros of Chengdu and Xi’an with Optonix, the latest traction system technology developed by Alstom. Specifically designed and developed for the Chinese market, Optonix reduces travel time thanks to optimized acceleration and deceleration increasing train frequency. The traction system, which includes motors and auxiliary converters, will be manufactured locally by Satee and supported by Alstom’s design unit in Charleroi, Belgium.
“This is Alstom’s first batch of metro contracts in central and western China, marking a strategic breakthrough for us in China,” said Dominique Pouliquen, Senior Vice President of Alstom Transport Asia Pacific. “These contracts demonstrate our customers’ continued confidence and trust in Alstom technologies and solutions. With a strong localization strategy combined with enhanced R&D and engineering capabilities, Alstom, through our Satee JV, has reinforced its leading position in traction systems in the booming Chinese market.”
Over the last few years, Alstom has supplied more than 1,600 metro cars to China and provided traction systems to over 1,400 metro cars in major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Nanjing and Hong Kong. Alstom has a major office in Chengdu responsible for its western China business development. In Xi’an, Alstom has a joint-venture - Xi’an Alstom Yongji Electric Equipment Co., Ltd., engaged in the manufacture, assembly, testing, and warranting of traction motors.