Develop the 'brain' of high-speed rail
- By Xu Ying
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E-mail China Today, January 12, 2016
As a child, Chang Zhenchen, born in 1965, dreamed of becoming an engineer. His dream came true. Chang is now deputy chief engineer of Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, a manufacturing and research subsidiary of China CNR Corporation Limited.
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A Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd employee at work on December 8, 2014, on the manufacture of a high-speed train. |
The company that Chang serves has 14,000 staff and is famous for its design and manufacturing of high-speed trains and city rail vehicles. Chang is a leader in the research and development of rail network control systems, which he believes are like the "brain and the nervous system" of high-speed rail.
In December, 2012, the CRH5 high-speed rail network control system development project headed by Chang passed an important examination and evaluation. In June, 2014, the team's research results passed the intellectual property evaluation process, crediting China with the capability to produce the "brain" of high-speed rail.
Today, China's high-speed rail operating mileage has reached 19,000 km, with 1,800 multiple-unit trains in service that carry 910 million passengers every year. China is endeavoring to promote its high-speed rail capacity, with the aim of expanding its progress in this field to other parts of the world.
Devoted to high-speed rail development
Since 1905, when pioneering Chinese railroad engineer Zhan Tianyou built the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway across the mountainous area of northern Beijing, many patriotic Chinese with a broad vision have focused on train and railroad construction as a good starting point to realize their dreams of making China a stronger country.
Chang studied agricultural automation until his doctorate degree graduation in 2004. He then became a postdoctoral fellow of the scientific research work station at Changchun Railway Vehicles, where he worked for two years.
It was in 2004 that China rolled out the Mid-to-Long Term Rail Network Plan, which set the goal of constructing a fast passenger rail network totaling more than 12,000 km. The guiding principle is "bringing in cutting-edge technology to combine with domestic design and production to create China's own brands."
At that time, Changchun Railway Vehicles, in cooperation with France-based Alstom, introduced the CRH high-speed train that could run at 200 km/h. Chang, a newcomer to the company, was assigned the task of learning and absorbing the technology of the CRH high-speed rail network control system. To understand the structure and operation of the multiple-unit (MU) trains, Chang voluntarily applied to participate in the test run of the Changbaishan train.
As a symbol of China's high-speed rail capacity, the Changbaishan train, with a production cost exceeding RMB 100 million and a designed speed of 210 km/h, was co-developed by Changchun Railway Vehicles and Canada-based Bombardier. The Changbaishan train boasted the highest level of independent development in China before the debut of the CRH series.
During an experiment in September, 2004, the Changbaishan set a record of 254.5 km/h, a great surprise to Chang. But the tests did not always run smoothly. At one point the train lost traction after a software update and was pulled out for a thorough examination. "We found that the failure was caused by an incorrect wheel diameter. The error was 10 millimeters, which may seem small but denoted a serious malfunction." Chang recalled.
Following the 60-day long experiment, Chang not only acquired a deep understanding of the structure and operating principles of MU trains, but also realized that China's technology lagged far behind that of advanced Western countries.
The historic Changbaishan train went operation along the Shenyang-Dalian line in February, 2007. However, by 2012 a dearth of spare parts left the train idle.
According to Chang, the company was able to learn lessons from the Changbaishan in terms of traction as well as interior design while creating the CRH1 electric MU train, the first generation of the CRH series. In fact, some believe the Changbaishan launched the high-speed rail era in China.
The Changbaishan experiment marked the end of Chang's work as a postdoctoral researcher. Faced with many options, he chose to devote his time to high-speed rail, which he believed had the most potential for development.
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