On 22nd March, A consortium joined by CRSC won a contract for E&M system integration and auxiliary works of the Xintang-Baiyun Airport-Guangzhou North (XinBaiGuang) Intercity Railway (ICR). CRSC will conduct system integration of signaling, communication, information and disaster prevention systems (including equipment procurement, construction & installation and system commissioning) between Guangzhou North Station (excluded) and Airport T2 Station, and support integrated testing & commissioning and trial operation, to support the development of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) ICR network.
The XinBaiGuang ICR extends for 77.572km from Guangzhou North Station to Xintang Station of the Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen (SuiGuanShen) ICR also undertaken by CRSC, with 13 stations in between. The Guangzhou North-Airport T2 section totals 20.517km, with a design speed of 160km/h and the CTCS-2+ATO train control system for both automatic driving and bus-like service. The project will last for 9 months, and complete by 31st December 2019.
In 2017, China's first automated intercity railway, Dongguan-Huizhou (GuanHui) ICR equipped with CRSC's CTCS-2+ATO system, was put into service, promoting PRD's transport and economic integration; and enhancing its overall competitiveness and spillover effect.
The CTCS-2+ATO system builds on the proven CTCS-2 system designed for High Speed Railways (HSRs) at above 200km/h, and incorporates the automatic driving (ATO) functions intended for metros. Hence, it integrates features of HSR and metro technologies, meeting the operation requirements of intercity trains, with a 200km/h maximum speed and 3-minute minimum headway.
The CTCS-2+ATO system enables automatic train driving and stopping at the target point of a station; automatic schedule adjustment and train turn-back at the station; integrated control of the platform screen doors and train doors. Thus, it transfers features of metros to ICRs, and combines the speed of HSRs with the convenience of metros, adapting to the high speed & density, short station spacing and bus-like service requirements of, and constituting a customized high-end system for China's intercity ICRs.
As a key part of the PRD ICR network, the XinBaiGuang ICR will offer a direct link between Baiyun Airport and Guangzhou North Station and a fast track between the airport and southeast PRD via Qingyuan and Shenzhen, reducing the end-to-end journey time to 10 minutes. In supporting the construction of the ICR network, CRSC will play its role as a central SOE and show the structural advantages of its "three-in-one capabilities" of design & development, equipment manufacture and engineering services, and its brand advantage.
The SuiGuanShen and Guangzhou-Qingyuan (GuangQing) ICRs, also expected to open this year, will carry passengers among cities and tier-one towns and among city clusters and tier-two towns in the PRD Economic Zone, forming a bus-like railway system; and representing further deployment of CRSC's CTCS-2+ATO system.