CHINA: The Ministry of Railways has selected Vossloh Fastening Systems (China) to supply rail fastenings for the 1 800 km passenger line now under construction to parallel the existing railway between Lanzhou and Urumqi in western China.

On August 23 Vossloh said it expected to sign agreements worth €140m covering the delivery of fastening systems in 2011. The new line is scheduled to open in 2013, with a maximum speeds of 250 km/h to halve the current 20 h journey time and release capacity on the existing route through Gans u for long-distance freight and coal traffic from the Shanshan coalfield.

In 2009 Vossloh was awarded a similar contract worth €170m to supply fastenings for the Beijing - Shanghai Passenger-Dedicated Line.