CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. signed on May 13 a cooperation agreement with UK's Imperial College London, the University of Southampton and University of Birmingham to jointly set up a research and development (R&D) center for rail transit technology.

It was the third R&D center established overseas by Qingdao Sifang, following the other two centers in Germany and Thailand.

The joint R&D center in the UK will work on vehicle dynamics, structural strength, vibration decreasing and noise reduction as well as components and parts processing for high-speed and urban subway trains, according to Ding Sansan, chief technologist of the CSR Qingdao Sifang Co.

The CSR Qingdao Sifang also held some promotion activities in Birmingham and Manchester to showcase China's achievement in high-speed rail systems.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp, one of two major train manufacturers in the country. It mainly engages in R&D and manufacturing of high-speed electric multiple-unit trains.

The company's CRH380A series trains are one of the top 10 fastest trains in the world. In December 2010, it set a world record speed of 486.1 km per hour in a test run on the 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line.

China has the world's largest high-speed train network. CSR is also interested in building Britain's $75 billion High Speed 2 (HS2) rail line and expected to take on its European rivals by bidding to make and maintain one of Britain's biggest infrastructure projects (HS2) that will first stretch from London to Birmingham to be followed by an extension to Manchester and Leeds.

Edited by Mevlut Katik