In the evening of July 14th, the world's first hydrogen-energy smart tram independently developed by CRRC Zhuzhou was successfully loaded and shipped in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. A few days later, it will be shipped from Shanghai port to Malaysia, a country along the "the Belt and Road Initiatives". This is also the first batch of smart trams delivered to Southeast Asia.

The smart tram will be used for urban transportation services in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The vehicle adopts a hydrogen energy power system for the first time, which has the advantages of longer cruising range, shorter hydrogen refueling time, lower carbon, energy saving and environmental protection. It has higher "intelligence" through the upgrade, which is highly in line with Malaysia's demand for zero-emission and intelligent public transportation systems. At the same time, the vehicle innovatively adopts a 70MPa hydrogen storage system and a high-power fuel cell system, with a endurance mileage of up to 245 kilometers. In addition, the vehicle is also equipped with a distributed energy resource system, which is more compact, lighter and more powerful, bringing a more comfortable and faster traveling experience to the citizens of Kuching.

3D diagram of the world's 1st hydrogen-energy Smart tram

Considering that Malaysia belongs to tropical rainforest climate, with high temperature and rain throughout the year, the R&D team optimizes the vehicle structural design and material technology to make the vehicle performance more suitable for the local environment.

In July 2022, after the international bidding, CRRC Zhi Xing, a subsidiary of CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, successfully won the bidding for the Kuching Smart tram project in Malaysia, with a total of 3 routes, totaling 69.9 kilometers, and equipped with 38 trains of Smart trams. Since the the cooperative relationship has been established, the delegations from Sarawak State visited Zhuzhou and Yibin for investigation & research, and the first hydrogen energy smart tram has also successfully passed the third-party testing and owner FAI inspection. The smooth delivery of the train not only demonstrates the technical innovation and manufacturing strength of CRRC, but also lays a solid foundation for the subsequent batch delivery and formal operation.

The world's first hydrogen-energy Smart Train had been tresting on the test section in Zhuzhou

The train will carry out a 3-month trial run in Kuching after arriving Malaysia. The successful landing of the smart tram in Malaysia will effectively ease the traffic congestion in Kuching City, bringing a reliable, efficient and modernized transportation for the local community, and will also demonstrate China's high-end equipment manufacturing in Southeast Asia and even globally, which will help China's smart manufacturing service "Belt and Road" along the countries.

Source: Reddit