CNR Dalian

1899-1952

The locomotive factory in Dalian was founded in 1899, 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, and to the development of Dalian as a port and town.

In 1905, the "Shahekou Plant" came under Japanese control as a result of the Treaty of Portsmouth, and in 1906 the railway from Dalian to Changchun became part of the Japanese controlled South Manchurian Railway.

In 1934 the factory together with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, manufactured the Asia Express high speed steam train for the South Manchuria Railway.

In 1945 at the end of the Second World War the city came under Soviet Russian control. The Changchun 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.

1952-2000

In 1956 the company manufacturerd the China Railways HP prototype 2-10-2 steam powered locomotive. and in 1957, the first China Railways JS class 2-8-2 locomotive, of which 1916 were built at different plants. 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, which led to the DF class diesel electric locomotives entered production in 1964.

The change from steam to diesel production began in 1965, 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, and developments were produced in the following decades; including the DF4B in 1984, the DF4D in 1996.

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. In 1997 it began working with Southwest Research Institute (USA) on the design of a new locomotive diesel engine.

The company first exported a mainline diesel locomotive in 1993 (to Myanmar), by the middle of the first decade of the 21st century the company had exported over 200 diesel locomotives.

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.

2000-

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.

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 to manufacture electric equipment for rolling stock. Also in the 2000s the diesel electric locomotives China Railways HXN3 were produced at Dalian in association with GM EMD.

In 2009 the company obtained its first export order to supply locomotives to a western country, an order for 20 New Zealand DL class locomotives.

In 2009 the groundbreaking ceremony took place for a new plant in the Port Arthur economic development zone (Lushunkou District); the new facility was developed in conjunction with the municipal council of Dalian city. The facility, on a 2 km (1.2 mi) site, is designed to have a production of around 1000 locomotives, 1000 rail vehicles and 1000 diesel engines per year. The plant officially opened in August 2011, the first vehicles on the production line were metro passenger units for Line 2, Tianjin Metro.

One of the company's latest export orders came in January 2015 from the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority for 15 metro trains for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit system in Nigeria, with an option for 14 more. This order came about following a failed acquisition of old H-series carriages retired from the Toronto, Canada metro system.

Research, development and education

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).

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.

Products and services

The company's primary products are railway rolling stock and related parts; it has a production capacity of ~600 locomotives and 300 metro rail vehicles per year.