Bombardier joint venture snags $427M high-speed train contract in China

MONTREAL – Bombardier Inc. says its joint venture in China has won a US$427-million contract to build train cars for the world’s longest high-speed rail network.

The successful bid by Bombardier Sifang Transportation Ltd. (BST) is the third by the joint venture, which Bombardier says is the only one with partial foreign ownership to win a Chinese high-speed train bid.

Bombardier holds a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture alongside CRRC Sifang Rolling Stock Co. Ltd., whose parent company CRRC Corp. Ltd. is China’s state-owned train maker and the world’s largest manufacturer of rail equipment.

Montreal-based Bombardier says the contract for 160 rail cars — to be made in China and with an operating speed of 350 km/h — will be completed by mid-2020.

In 2018 the joint venture won two contracts to build a total of 288 rail cars.

Bombardier’s rail division plays a role in numerous consortia in China, having delivered 4,500 passenger cars and more than 3,000 other rail cars to the country’s burgeoning transit market as the company renews its focus on trains and business jets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BBD.B)