Traffic on a major railway in Central China's Hunan province partly resumed at about 6 am on Monday morning, nearly 11 hours after the rail line was interrupted by flood-triggered landslide.

Heavy rains poured down and triggered landslide around 8 pm Sunday in Hunan, interrupted the Lianyuan section of Hukun Railway linking Shanghai to Kunming, in Hunan, according to sources with Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corporation.

Twelve passenger trains were delayed by the landslide, the sources said, adding that more than 50 meters of the railway were buried by the 4,000 cubic meters of landslide rocks.

More than 500 people and eight excavators were sent to clear the railway, and the up-direction service to Shanghai resumed on Monday morning.

Hukun Railway is a major rail line in Central China, linking Shanghai in East China, and Kunming, capital of Yunnan in Southwest China.

Bombardier Inc. is trying a new approach to tapping into China’s rail market – not just building trains, but selling the blueprints.

The Montreal manufacturer struck a 10-year agreement to licence a variant of the technology for its Flexity 2 line of trams to a subsidiary of China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd., the biggest player in the railway manufacturing sector.
It’s the first deal like it for Bombardier in the world’s most populous country, which has been building transportation infrastructure at a fierce rate. The company is making a push to become a major provider of rail equipment to China, where it is fighting for a piece of the market with long-time rivals such as Siemens AG of Germany and Alstom SA of France.

Bombardier will supply documentation, training and other assistance in manufacturing and selling the streetcars to South China unit CSR Puzhen. The company would not disclose how it gets paid but says the partnership will help it grow strong “local roots” in key Chinese markets.

This type of licensing-only agreement and other partnerships, however, raise concerns in some quarters that Bombardier is simply helping China develop its rail expertise so as to eventually become a major global rival in manufacturing trains and subway cars.

“I don’t think Bombardier is going to get much of a bump on this. Bombardier will regret it in 10 years when China starts mass producing their own versions,” said Malcolm Johnston, a transit advocate based in British Columbia.

Bombardier Transportation spokesman Marc Laforge said the key to these types of partnerships or joint ventures is to stay ahead of the innovation curve.

“Bombardier is a leader in technology and we intend to keep it that way. There’s no way we feel insecure,” he said.

Martyn Briggs, of London-based consultants Frost & Sullivan Inc., sais China – as well as India – offer huge opportunities for rail product manufacturers that take the time to establish a strong presence in markets where there is growing demand for such products as trams.

“It’s certainly a big opportunity for Bombardier,” he said.

Bombardier has been doing a good job of differentiating itself from rivals like Siemens with next-generation light rail vehicles that cater to the needs of rapidly growing urban centres in developing economies like China, Mr. Briggs said.

Bombardier has spent years deepening its presence in China. Among higher-profile projects are joint ventures to build super-high-speed trains to the Ministry of Railways as well as deals to provide subway cars to Shanghai and other cities.

“After many years of intense development of metros, Chinese cities are embracing low-floor trams to complement their urban transit systems. Bombardier is now bringing its state-of-the-art technology to this new and growing market,” Jianwei Zhang, president of Bombardier China, said in a news release.

Shanghai Large high-speed railway opens

The Hanyi Railway, a section of a high-speed rail corridor between the eastern metropolis of Shanghai and southwestern city of Chengdu, opened on Sunday.

The 293-km Hanyi Railway links Wuhan and Yichang, two large cities in Central China's Hubei province.

The railway will reduce travel time between the cities to one hour and 39 minutes, said Yang Tao, an official with the Wuhan railway bureau.

The Hanyi Railway is part of the Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Railway, an east-west corridor listed in China's national high-speed railway development plan.

The 2,078-km railway will travel though four provinces and two municipalities, connecting the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu.

Most sections of the Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Railway are in operation, and construction on the last section is slated to be completed in 2013.

Tianjin

Mall fire death toll rises to 10

The death toll has climbed to 10 from a fire that broke out in a commercial mall in North China's Tianjin on Saturday.

Sixteen people suffered minor injuries in the fire, which started around 4 pm in the Laide Commercial Mall in Jixian county, Tianjin.

The blaze was extinguished by 11 pm on Saturday.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire.

Hainan

Patrol reaches Huayang Reef

A patrol of four China Marine Surveillance ships reached Huayang Reef in the South China Sea on Sunday.

The CMS vessels set sail on June 26 from the coastal city of Sanya, in South China, to conduct regular patrols in the South China Sea. The ships are expected to travel more than 2,400 nautical miles (4,500 km) during the patrols.

Li Yongbo, team commander, spoke with Chinese officers stationed on the reef while the vessels passed through the area.

Huayang Reef is a coral reef in the Nansha Islands.

Hubei

Team to explore 'Bigfoot' habitat

Researchers will start exploring large areas of pristine forest this month in the Shennongjia region of Central China's Hubei province, local authorities said on Sunday.

A group of 38 experts from several universities and research institutions will begin the expedition on July 8, according to the Shennongjia Nature Reserve's management bureau.

The trip is scheduled to last through August, it said.

The group will focus on studying the region's animals, plants and land features and will publish its research results later, it said.

Set deep in the remote mountains of Hubei, the Shennongjia Nature Reserve has long been rumored to be the home of an elusive creature known in China as the Yeren, or Chinese Wildman in English, also referred to as "Bigfoot" after the legendary North American ape-man.

Xiangyanghong 09

Last test dive hits 7,000 meters

China's manned submersible Jiaolong completed its program of deep sea dives with a sixth and final dive to 7,000 meters in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday.

Jiaolong will now enter a trial period of application after having come through its program of test dives to depths ranging from 1,000 to 7,000 meters in the deepest part of the world's oceans.

According to an on-site headquarters, the submersible took three plunges to the depth of 7,000 meters during the six dives, the greatest depth being 7,062 meters.

Beijing

Response sought to aging society

A seminar on China's strategic response to a rapidly aging society was held by the China National Working Commission on Aging on Sunday.

As a developing economy, China now is facing a double challenge: to improve the welfare and well-being of the elderly and to sustain a relatively high rate of economic growth, said Li Liguo, deputy head of the commission.

China now has 185 million people aged 60 and older on the mainland, accounting for more than 13 percent of the population, and the number is expected to reach 480 million by 2050.

Officials issue heat-wave alert

China's meteorological authority released a high-temperature warning on Sunday, saying the temperature of North China, southern part of the Yangtze River Delta, northern part of South China and parts of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will exceed 35 C.

The heat will last for at least three days.

The China Meteorological Administration is calling on the public to guard against heatstroke and minimize fire hazards.

Tibet

Train service to Lhasa expanded

China will increase passenger train services from major cities to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, to handle a travel surge that has rippled across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since a landmark railway opened six years ago, railway officials said on Sunday.

Trains will travel daily between Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and Lhasa starting on July 9, said Wang Tao, a spokesman for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company. Chengdu-Lhasa trains will soon follow the same schedule.

Seven Chinese cities now have Lhasa-bound trains. All are expected to operate daily, Wang said.

Among them, Beijing, Shanghai and Xining already have daily trains to Lhasa.
 

Bombardier Transportation and its Chinese joint venture partner New United Group to supply propulsion and control equipment for 20 metro trains of six cars each. Bombardier Transportation today announced that together with New United Group (NU) it has signed a contract with CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. for the supply of BOMBARDIER MITRAC propulsion and control equipment. Bombardier will supply engineering, manufacturing, testing, commissioning as well as initial spare parts for the propulsion and control system of the new metro trains to be delivered by CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. to Dongguan Rail Transit Co., Ltd. The total value of the contract is approximately 180 million CNY (23 million euro, $28 million US)1, with Bombardier’s share valued at approximately 102 million CNY(13 million euro, $16 million US)[1]. The MITRAC equipment will be delivered from Bombardier Transportation’s production facilities in V?ster?s, Sweden and Changzhou, The People’s Republic of China.

The project marks the first application of MITRAC propulsion and control equipment in a Chinese metro system with an operational speed of 120 km/h. With a total length of 37 km, the R2 Line is the first metro line in the City of Dongguan and is expected to go into service by 2015.

“Bombardier is the world’s leading provider of propulsion and control equipment for rail vehicles. Our solutions set the standard in terms of reliability and form a key part in the Dongguan development of public mass transport in China and the wider region,” said Per Allmer, President Propulsion and Controls, Bombardier Transportation.

Jianwei Zhang, President and Chief Country Representative of Bombardier China, said: “Following the recent order of Bombardier propulsion equipment for the Beijing Metro Line 14, the award of this contract for the Dongguan R2 Line once again demonstrates the confidence and trust that Chinese customers have in our proven and reliable technology. As always, Bombardier is committed to delivering on time with high attention to quality for this breakthrough 120 km/h metro project in China.”

Invensys poured cold water on reports that it was the takeover target of a Chinese train-maker yesterday .

The FTSE 250 engineer, whose products include rail signalling, had been linked to a ￡2bn bid from China Southern Rail, majority-owned by the Chinese government.

But Invensys, which employs 3,000 people in Britain, said the company's position had not changed since an announcement last week, when it revealed talks with US giant Emerson Electric had come to nothing and no other discussions were taking place. But the company's shares still rose more than 1 per cent to close at 225.8p yesterday.

Alex Jarvis, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said: "We see good fundamental value for a business that is making good progress and contains some prize assets in terms of brand names and strong technologies in growing markets."

Back in 2010, Invensys' then chief executive, Ulf Henriksson, told a newspaper that Invensys could be the target of a takeover by China Southern Rail, sending shares soaring. The company was then forced to issue a statement denying it was in talks.

Some 52.6 million passengers have travelled on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway since it opened to the public a year ago, latest data showed Saturday.

More than 56,000 trains traversed the railway in the first year of its operation, Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Company said.

After three years of construction, the 1,318-km railway linking Beijing and Shanghai went into operation in June last year.

Trains were initially allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, which was later adjusted to 300 km per hour to allegedly reduce operation costs.

Built with an investment of 217.6 billion yuan ($34.5 billion), the railway has shortened travel time between the two cities to about five hours.

The Hanyi Railway, a section of a major high-speed rail corridor between the eastern metropolis of Shanghai and southwest China’s city of Chengdu, opened Sunday.

The 293-km Hanyi Railway links Wuhan and Yichang, 2 large cities in central China’s Hubei province. The railway will reduce travel time between the cities to 1 hr, 39 mins, said Yang Tao, an official with the Wuhan railway bureau.

The Hanyi Railway is part of the Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Railway, or Huhanrong Railway, a major east-west high-speed rail corridor outlined in China’s national high-speed railway development plan.

The 2,078-km railway will travel though four provinces and two municipalities, connecting the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu.

Speaking through his assistant, director Zhang Yimou said he was not the director of "Chinese Railway," a controversial promotional video for high-speed railways criticized for terrible standards and a high cost, the Beijing News reports.

"Chinese Railway," made for the Railway Ministry for the opening of the 7th World Congress on High-speed Rail in Beijing in December 2010, was recently reported by the National Audit Office to have cost 18.5 million yuan (US$2.9 million) but failed to meet expectations.

Pang Liwei, Zhang Yimou's assistant, said on Monday that Zhang did not take part in the shooting for the video and his role was just making some recommendations to the film maker.

Pang said the video's production company asked Zhang to direct the video before the downfall of the former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun and Zhang said he would make recommendations but he did not want to be credited as the director. Zhang attended several meetings to give advice, but the final production was very different than what he had recommended, Pang said.

As for Internet users' questions about the high fee Zhang received for his role, Pang responded that there was no question that Zhang was paid at a level equal to his status in the international film field.

According to the duration of the arrangements, the public take the subway to the 2014
　　Early this morning, from Rail Transit Line 3 the subject workers, the Drum Tower Station - East entrance (Tianyi Square) station interval will be a long 25 meters wide and 22 m floor pouring is completed. Backplane pouring after this means that the full realization of a Rail Transit Line 1 "hole through" hope Chunqiao Station to Station East Ring Road South, all get through these underground stations and the interval between.
　　Construction of rail transit, you need to go through three landmark nodes, respectively, is the hole through the rail pass and Dentsu. The "hole through the" laying for the next step after another into the construction of mechanical and electrical installation laid the foundation.
　　Two years ago, the first tunnel boring machine began to promote
　　Rail Transit Line 1 of a project starting point for the urban area west of Gaoqiao Town, the end station for the East Ring Road South. The underground section of about 21 km long and 15 underground stations (14 underground interval between the station and the station from the Wang Chunqiao station to the East Ring Road South Station). Get through these intervals, there are two ways, one shield, the second is the open-cut. Range of 14 Drum Tower Station - East entrance (Tianyi Square) station interval is open-cut.
　　August 20, 2010, the first shield machine from Fuming Road Station to Century Avenue Station excavation, began the construction of rail transit shield. June 11, 2012, the West door - Gulou range the right lane tunnel through, on the 1st line of a line of shield range all through the shield construction has ended. 2-year period, a total of 11 tunnel boring machine to participate.
　　Open excavation of the underground range is 450 meters long, 22 meters wide, west to the rail transportation Drum Tower Station, east to Tianyi Square near Gate 1, a total of three layers: the bottom layer is the platform layer, to take the railway train; underground The second floor is the layer of station hall for ticketing and commercial development; the basement of the business district, with entrances and exits.

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate announced Monday that all 76 railway transport procuratorates nationwide have been put under a unified administration of the justice system.

After the completion of a personnel and financial management power transfer, the railway procuratorates are now directly administered by provincial or municipal procuratorate authorities, the SPP statement said.

Railway transport procuratorates, designed to deal with procuratorial work regarding to crimes on trains and violations of the country's railway-related special laws, were previously under the dual administration of both the procuratorate system and the railway authorities.

While higher-level procuratorates lead the procuratorial work of such agencies, the personnel and financial affairs of these procuratorates were managed by the railway authorities.

China in July 2009 ordered a complete separation of the procuratorates from the industry by transferring the power of personnel and financial management of such agencies to the country's justice authorities.

After the transfer, the jurisdiction, working system and procuratorial procedures of these procuratorates may remain unchanged for the time being, the SPP statement said.

In addition to railway procuratorates, China now has another special type of procuratorates - military procuratorates.

Shanghai metro experienced a spate of problems between Monday and Tuesday with a record three breakdowns within two days, causing massive delays with stations crowded and travelers sweltering in summer heat during rush hours.

The Metro Line 2 was operating at a limited speed and experienced long departure intervals at 8:15 am on Monday because of equipment failure in one train. The faulty train was towed away after eight minutes but the disruption lasted for almost half an hour.

Five extra trains were sent to the line's sections in the Pudong area to alleviate congestion, a Metro official said. Line 2 resumed operations by 8:40 am.

Yin Wei, an official with the Shanghai Metro Operation Co, said a signal failure occurred on Metro Line 1 at the southwest end at Xingzhuang Station around 8:40 am. The failure wasn't fixed until one hour later and operations were affected for long afterward.

Signal equipment failure was also responsible for disruption on Metro Line 2 on Tuesday night, said Yin. It happened around the evening peak of 6:30 pm.

Metro Lines 1 and 2 are the busiest and oldest in Shanghai.

The first train for new subway in Kunming base of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive got off production line successfully in June 26, which marks the emergence of subway vehicle made all by "4S" store of Rail Transit. CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive has been facilitating the improvement of electric locomotive industry in China, from "manufacture" to "manufacture + service". Chairman of CSR, Zheng Changhong attended the off-line ceremony and made speech.  

It is reported that the first off-line vehicles will serve for the first phase projects of line 1 and line2, backbone of south-north transportation in Kunming. There are six vehicles, marshaled and all-welded by type B alufer, with the highest operation speed of 100km/h. Employed in the first phase project of rail transit in Kunming, applying the most advanced techniques of urban rail design and manufacture in the world in the layout of brake system, running gear components and anti-collision equipments, these vehicles possess the quality of high safety, share energy saving air-conditioners, LED light and other low-carbon, green initiative equipments, provide the comfort and humanizing in-car environment, match with beautiful Kunming naturally, where each season is like spring.  

These vehicles are given birth by first "4S" store of Chinese Rail Transit, which is most different from the former production process of inland rail transit vehicles and also means these new type vehicles will be accompanied by matched and completed maintenance service since its appearance. In this way, vehicles can enjoy professional and completed maintenance service, while owners can devote to daily vehicle operation work, released from multifarious vehicle maintenance trivia.  

CSR Zhuzhou Electric locomotive company opened China's first rail transit "4S" store in May 10th, 2012, allowing vehicle operators of urban rail transit to utilize technique advantage of research and manufacturers to work out problems as daily maintenance of vehicles, lower vehicle maintenance cost, then reach win-win result. It goes with the operation-maintenance separation trend in global rail transit industry, ensuring better operation of trains.  

Bridge tower strategy sent Yunnan to the front of opening and reform activities historically, highlighting regional importance of Kunming as a cosmopolitan facing South Asia and Southeast Asia. The strategy also raises new and higher requirements to the network construction of rail transit system in Kunming. It is reported that long term rail transit network plan in Kunming includes 14 lines, and will increase to 16 lines by the end of 2018, with total length of 187.5 km. On that occasion, traffic condition of Kunming will improve a lot, and so do the quality of the city. 

CSR Urban Rail Vehicle Co., Ltd. was incorporated in Kunming in July, 2010, a joint adventure by two parties, CSRHong Kong Co., Ltd. and Kunming Rail Transit Co., Ltd., with CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. functioning as investor and provider of high end urban railway technology. When all projects are finished, Yunnan will be equipped with 200 vehicles, annually assembled, un-wheeling repair capacity of 200 vehicles, and overhaul repair ability of 150 vehicles.    

The off-line of the first train made by Kunming CSR Urban Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd., which was also Yunnan's first train in urban rail transit industry, will enhance the transformation and upgrade of Yunnan traditional industry, boost the development of Yunnan strategic new industry,    promoting industry structure optimization and the transformation of economic development mode. Under the guideline of strategic cooperative frame between CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive company and Yunnan province, Xu Zongxiang said that Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive company will desert all its efforts to make CSR Urban Rail Vehicle Co., Ltd. the biggest research, development, manufacturing and overhaul base of urban railway vehicle and motor train unit in southeast of China, to explore railway transportation equipment market in Southeast Asia, South Asia and countries of other regions, and contribute substantially to the goal of big improvement of Yunnan industry and the road of new industrialization in Yunnan.

On June 28, the World Brand Lab WBL unveiled the list of China’s Most 500 Valuable Brands in 2011. As a result, CSR ranked 54th on the list and 1st in the domestic machinery industry with a value of 21.089 billion yuan, with its brand influence rated as global. China Telecom, State Grid, ICBC, CCTV and China Life ranked among the top five.

The list is based on financial analysis, consumer behavior analysis and brand strength. WBL is an international and professional brand research agency headed by Robert A. Mundell, Nobel laureate in economics, “Father of the Euro” and professor of Columbia University.

Prof. Mundell said, historically, China is the brand cradle of the world. In the English world, brands emerged in medieval Europe 1,500 years ago, while in the Chinese world, China painted pottery as early 6,000 years ago as brand symbols. Contrary to the status of a large luxury-consuming country, China was a major luxury-producing country 2,500 years ago that almost monopolized three ancient luxuries--pottery, silk and tea almost mo. In the Han dynasty dating back 2,000 years, “Zhangzhi brush”, “Zuobo paper” and “Weidan ink” were all famous stationery brands. As long as Chinese enterprises pay close attention to product quality and make great efforts to build brands, it is just a matter of time that Chinese brands become top priorities of global users.

On the list were brands in 24 industries including food and beverage, textile & apparel, media, information technology, household appliances, automobile and energy. In the machinery industry, CSR ranked first with a brand value of 21.089 billion yuan, followed by Shanghai Electric and Lovol.