Siemens Velaro - Velaro CRH3C/CRH380B

Velaro CRH3C/CRH380B

Velaro CRH3C is a Chinese version of the Velaro. In November 2005, China ordered 60 trains for the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway. The eight-car trains are very similar to Spain's Velaro E, but 300 mm (11.81 in) wider to fit in almost 50% more seats in a 2 plus 3 layout. In the CRH3C version, a 200-metre-long Velaro train will seat 600 passengers. These trains are being manufactured jointly by Siemens in Germany and CNR Tangshan in China. The first Chinese-built CRH3C was unveiled on 11 April 2008.

CRH3C reached a top speed of 394.3 km/h (245.0 mph) during a test on the Beijing to Tianjin high-speed railway on 24 June 2008.

In September 2009, an additional 20 CRH3C sets were ordered by Chinese MOR.

In March 2009, 100 CRH380BL units were ordered by Chinese MOR for delivery in 2011. These trains are 16-car sets that will be capable of operating at speeds up to 380 km/h (240 mph) in regular service, and designed to reach a top speed of 420 km/h (261 mph). In September 2009, the Chinese MOR ordered an additional 40 16-car sets and 40 8-car sets. All of the 180 trainsets mentioned above will be manufactured by two Chinese companies, CNR Tangshan and CNR Changchun, Siemens acts only as a component supplier. These trains were given the designations CRH380B (8-car set) and CRH380BL (16-car set) in September 2010.

The first CRH380BL set was completed by Tangshan Railway Vehicle and unveiled to the public on 21 September 2010. In October 2010, the 16-car train was sent to the Beijing loop line for testing. In November 2010 the train was sent to Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway for a trial run. It reached the maximum speed of 457 km/h (284 mph) on 5 December 2010. During a test on 10 January 2011, a shortened CRH380BL set reached a new record speed of 487.3 km/h (302.8 mph), breaking the previous record held by the CRH380A.