Hitachi Receives Contract Award for Electric Propulsion System, Air Brake System and Air-Conditioning Units from Beijing Subway

24 December 2004

The Beijing Subway Authority has awarded an approximately $38 million contract to a consortium consisting of Yongji Electric Machine Factory, Sumitomo Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd. The contract includes 96 sets of IGBT VVVF Inverter propulsion system, air brake system and air-conditioning units for the new Line 5 project. This project is the third project for Hitachi with Beijing Subway, starting from the electric propulsion system for Line 2 in 1983 and for Line 13 in 2001.

The Line 5 is one of the major projects that will be completed before the Olympic games in Beijing. The city of Beijing is planning to develop a subway network of over 200 km in total length. The Line 5 will be the fourth subway line in Beijing. It starts from Song Jia Zhuang Station in southern Beijing, runs north crossing the three existing lines (Lines 1, 2 and 13), and reaches the northern end station, Tai Ping Zhuang Bei. The length will be approximately 27.6 km with 22 stations.

This contract award shows that Beijing Subway highly recognizes the technological merits of Hitachi and the project management capability of Sumitomo Corporation. Together with Sumitomo Corporation, Hitachi plans to receive orders for the oncoming projects.