The entrance to Dalian Locomotive Company on Zhongchang Street, Dalian |
|
| Industry | Engineering - rail vehicles, diesel engines |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1899 |
| Headquarters | Dalian, China |
| Products | Diesel and electric locomotives, EMUs, diesel engines |
| Employees | ~8000 |
| Parent | China CNR Corporation Limited |
| Website | www.dloco.com |
CNR Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company (in Chinese: 大连机车车辆有限公司), often abbreviated as DLoco, is a company located in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, producing railway locomotives, multiple units and diesel engines.
The factory was established in 1899 during the period of construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and was under Japanese control from 1905, and later part of the Manchukuo state. After the end of the Second World war the railway was under joint Chinese and Russia control until the 1950s when the Chinese Eastern Railroad and the city of Dalian were transferred to sole Chinese control. The factory was state owned, and controlled by the Ministry of Railways until 2001 when LORIC (China National Railway Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corporation) was split into two groups; it then became one of the constituent companies of China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation (CNR) (after 2008 China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation Limited).
Contents |
The locomotive factory in Dalian was founded in 1899,[1] contemporary with the construction of the southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway during the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula from China to the Russian Empire,[n 1] and to the development of Dalian as a port and town.[2][3]
In 1905, the "Shahekou Plant"[n 2] came under Japanese control as a result of the Treaty of Portsmouth,[n 5] and in 1906 the railway from Dalian to Changchun became part of the japanese controlled South Manchurian Railway.[4]
In 1934 the factory together with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, manufactured the Asia Express high speed steam train for the South Manchuria Railway.[5]
In 1945 at the end of the Second World War the city came under Soviet Russian control. The Chanchun Railway was jointly operated by China and Russia until 1952, when control was passed entirely to the Chinese government. Soviet Russian occupation ended in 1955.[6][7][3]
In 1956 the company manufacturerd the China Railways HP[n 6] prototype 2-10-2 steam powered locomotive.[8][9] and in 1957, the first China Railways JS class 2-8-2 locomotive,[n 7] of which 1916 were built at different plants.[10] as well as other steam locomotives.
Diesel locomotives were developed and produced at the plant, a prototype diesel electric type "JuLong" (巨龙 meaning 'grand dragon') was produced in 1958 based on the Russian ТЭ10 locomotive and Fairbanks Morse FM38D opposed piston engine,[11] which led to the DF class diesel electric locomotives entered production in 1964.[12][11]
The change from steam to diesel production began in 1965,[13] and in 1969, the first of the China Railways DF4 class of locomotives was produced. The DF4 series of locomotive type became the main mainline diesel locomotive type in China,[14][15] and developments were produced in the following decades; including the DF4B in 1984, the DF4D in 1996.[16][13]
In the 1980s the company began a decade long research partnership with Ricardo plc into increasing the power output and efficiency of its DL240 diesel engine products.[1][17] In 1997 it began working with Southwest Research Institute (USA) on the design of a new locomotive diesel engine.[18][19]
By 2000 the company was producing half of the China's internal supply of diesel locomotives, and manufactured 80% of the countries diesel locomotive exports.[20]
The state company China National Railway Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corporation, or LORIC, was split into the northern and southern groups; in 2000 the company became part of the newly formed China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation along with other rail vehicle manufacturers in China.[21]
In the first decade of the 21st century the plant began producing two new mainline locomotive product types; the China Railways HXD3 electric locomotives in association with Toshiba, a joint venture with Toshiba (大连东芝机车电气设备有限公司, Dalian Toshiba Locomotive Electric Equipment Co., Ltd.) was formed in 2002 for the manufacturer of electric traction and auxiliary equipment (inverters).[22] Also in the 2000s the diesel electric locomotives China Railways HXN3 were produced at Dalian in association with GM EMD.
The company plans to move in 2010-2015 to Lushunkou District (Port Arthur), about 30 kilometers west of downtown Dalian. The groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant took place in 2009.[23]
In 1956, Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Manufacturing School was established nearby on Huanghe Road, which became the Dalian Railway Institute (Chinese: 大连铁道学院) in 1958, and in 2004 Dalian Jiaotong University (Chinese: 大连交通大学).[24] Basic research is also done at the main campus of Dalian Jiaotong University, independently or funded by the company.
The CNR Dalian Research Institute is the factorys' technical center. It was gradually built up from the 1960s until 1994 when it was approved as a national level center.[25] It employes about 500 employees involved in technology development as well as acting as an interface to the new technology imported from overseas.
Also in Dalian is the CNR Dalian Locomotive Research Institute Co., Ltd. (中国北车集团大连机车研究所有限公司), founded 1922; the organisation became a company subsidiary of China CNR Corporation in 2007.[26]
DLoco is today engaged in five lines of business:[27]
The latest models of the locomotives, the company's main businesses, are:
The company has a capacity of producing 600 combustion engine and electric locomotives, 300 urban transportation vehicles and repairing 150 locomotives per year.
Diesel engines for use by locomotives, oil wells, industrial electric power generators, ships and the military are also produced.
As the need for urban commuter trains has increased in China recently, the company in 2003 provided light rail trains to Dalian's Light Rail No. 3 Line.
The company also exports its products; the first export order was from Myanmar in 1995. They have been exported to over ten countries; Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia in Africa; and Turkey, Malaysia (KTM Class 29) and North Korea in Asia. Contracts were signed in 2001 to supply 69 locomotives to Pakistan, and in 2002 to supply 152 locomotives to Kazakhstan.
In 2008 the company signed a contract to supply diesel locomotives to its first Western customer, KiwiRail of New Zealand. Twenty double cab locomotives have been supplied, with another twenty ordered. The first six locomotives arrived in New Zealand in November 2010 and trials were successful with the locomotives easing well into service; the remaining fourteen arrived in June 2011. They are New Zealand's first Chinese-built locomotives, NZR DL class in KiwiRail locomotive parlance.
|
||||||||