Knorr-Bremse has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), China Railway’s national rail innovation and technology centre, to develop next-generation technologies for China’s rail freight sector.
The agreement, signed in Beijing, launches the China Freight Cooperation Program. It builds on more than 20 years of cooperation between the two organisations and moves the partnership beyond product supply to joint development of system-level innovations in freight digitalisation, driver assistance and braking.
China is increasingly shifting long-distance freight to the railways, a trend that requires longer and heavier trains to run safely and efficiently.
The digitalisation work will cover digital train architecture, predictive maintenance, wagon monitoring and digital automatic couplers, which Knorr-Bremse is also preparing for deployment in Europe. The partners will also develop wireless functions powered by energy storage on the wagons to improve fleet monitoring and servicing.
Driver assistance development will draw on solutions such as Knorr-Bremse’s LEADER system, which is already in operation in Europe, the US and Australia. The braking work will focus on the demands of long-distance and heavy-haul operations.
Dr Nicolas Lange, Executive Board Member responsible for Rail at Knorr-Bremse, said: “Together with CARS, we are elevating our long-term partnership in the Chinese railway industry to the next level – from product collaboration to joint development of system-level innovations. China is a key growth market for Knorr-Bremse, and by combining our global expertise with local excellence, we are strengthening our role as a systems partner while shaping the future of efficient, intelligent, and sustainable rail freight.”
Knorr-Bremse estimates that the European original equipment market for upgrading up to 500,000 freight wagons will reach around €25 billion. It is targeting annual revenue in the mid triple-digit million-euro range there, and sees comparable market potential in China. With the United States also expected to adopt next-generation freight technologies, the company puts its long-term global annual revenue potential in rail freight at more than €1 billion.
