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Models of high-speed trains designed by CNR on display. The company hopes to win a potential multibillion-dollar contract to supply the train service in California. Photo: AFP

CNR eyes California contract after winning Thai order

State-owned mainland company and its partners secure HK$1.1 billion deal to supply carriages for intercity railway services in Thailand

China CNR Corp has bagged the biggest train contract in Thailand and it hopes to win a separate multibillion-dollar high-speed train deal with the California High-Speed Rail Authority in the United States.

CNR and the BBC consortium signed an agreement with the State Railway of Thailand to supply 115 passenger train carriages, according to CNR's website.

BBC consists of two Thai companies and the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp.

"This is the biggest purchase contract of train carriages in Thailand's history, and the award of this contract to CNR not only is a testament to the friendship between China and Thailand, but indicates the Thai people's high approval of Chinese products," said Thai transport permanent secretary Soithip Traisuth.

The contract for the 115 air-conditioned carriages is worth 4.6 billion baht (HK$1.1 billion), the reported.

The purchase was part of the government's 176 billion baht infrastructure development plan for last year and this year, the newspaper quoted the Thai official as saying.

CNR had previously supplied trains to Thai cities, but this is the state-owned company's first contract to supply carriages for the country's inter-city railway services.

CNR and CSR Corp are the dominant train manufacturers in China.

In October last year in Bangkok, Premier Li Keqiang touted Chinese high-speed rail products to then Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Separately, a CNR subsidiary, Tangshan Railway, and a US company, SunGroup USA, are submitting an expression of interest to supply trains to California's US$68 billion high-speed rail project, SunGroup told Reuters.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority this month sought expressions of interest in supplying its first high-speed train service and the deadline for submission is today, according to the authority's website.

This tender is for up to 95 train sets with speeds of more than 320km/h.

Given the authority's business plan, a contract for 95 train sets may be worth about US$4.28 billion.

"We are going to have the first true high-speed rail system in America and industry leaders from around the world are eager to talk to us about why their trains should be running on our tracks," said Jeff Morales, the authority's chief executive.

In the first half of the year, CNR's cumulative total export contracts rose 178.2 per cent year on year to US$1.54 billion.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: CNR eyes California contract after winning Thai order
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