China’s top train maker brings expertise, boosts industrial development in Malaysia

block
Xinhua, Batu Gajah :
Having built its regional manufacturing center in Malaysia, the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) is also planning to expand its operations at the facility with an eye to exploring the ASEAN market.
More significantly, the Chinese top train maker hopes to benefit Malaysia by bringing expertise and creating opportunities for the local industries.
Located in the town of Batu Gajah, some 200 km from the capital of Kuala Lumpur, the CRRC Rolling Stock Center was designated as the company’s manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the 50-acre complex in 2013 was attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The facility was put into trial run in early 2015 before full operation kicked in last October, according to Li Hong, general manager of the rolling stock center.
The first products built in the rolling stock center, six trains for Malaysia’s Electric Train Service (ETS), are already operational. The center is now working on the second order of 15 trains for Ampang Line of the light rapid transit (LRT) network in Kuala Lumpur area, expected to be manufactured by the year-end.
“We now have a stable capacity to manufacture up to 200 carriages per year.
We are also building facility for car overhaul service of 150 cars per year,” Li told Xinhua.
He said future operations of the rolling stock center would focus on three areas: manufacturing, overhaul as well as service and maintenance.
“On manufacturing, we have the capacity to build trains for major railway, intercity line and urban mass transit; we could build subway cars, LRT cars, as well as for high-speed rail, electric locomotive or even magnetic levitation cars; we could build cars both for meter gauge and standard gauge,” he said.
“On overhaul, we are building our facility and operation is expected to start by the year-end or early next year.”
The Malaysian government is working on several plans to expand and renovate its railway network, on top of which is the cross-border high-speed railway linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
block