On March 9, Shuohuang Railway celebrated the 10th anniversary of safe operation of 20,000-tonne heavy-haul trains, with a total of 143,800 trains operated and 1.536 billion tonnes of coal transported over the decade. This has significantly contributed to national energy security and supported high-quality economic and social development.
Over the past decade, Shuohuang Railway has adhered to innovative breakthroughs in technology, operation and management. It has established the Heavy-haul Technology Application Committee, the Transport Technology Research Institute and the 20,000-tonne Technology Research Team. With close coordination and comprehensive measures, it has implemented systematic research on technical solutions for 20,000-tonne heavy-haul trains, and enhanced management in transport organization, equipment maintenance, train operation and safety guarantee. Strictly sticking to the safety standards, the company has identified 34 potential operational risks from the four dimensions of personnel, equipment, environment and management. It has upgraded 74 LTE networks with dual leaky cables and addressed more than 20 major difficulties, including damage to small-radius curves and switches, defects in bridges, tunnels and culverts, and large impulse on long ramps. These efforts have laid a solid foundation for safe operation of 20,000-tonne heavy-haul trains. The company has also broken through technical barriers and independently developed China’s first 20,000-tonne comprehensive inspection locomotive, mastering key technologies of the dynamics of heavy-haul train operation. It has optimized operation schemes over 40 times and resolved 20 operational issues, formulating technical standards for safe operation and building an intelligent management system featuring visibility, manageability and controllability. Meanwhile, it has upgraded locomotive equipment with 16 updates of the wireless reconnection program and 33 optimizations of network control programs, realizing safe interconnection and interoperability of multiple locomotive types. In addition, it has actively explored new quality productive forces and successfully tested and operated autonomous-driving 20,000-tonne heavy-haul trains. The trains thus achieved full automation and 100% punctuality, advancing the intelligent transformation of China’s heavy-haul railways. It has promoted the training of heavy-haul talents and fostered multiple skilled technicians and industrial backbones. The number of 20,000-tonne train crew teams has increased from 18 to 576, making positive contributions to the development of the heavy-haul railway transport industry.
