French battery manufacturer Saft has announced it will supply batteries to 93 Hong Kong’s new MTR metro trains.
In the five-year multi-million euro contract, Saft is supplying its SRM nickel-technology batteries to the Chinese train builder CRRC Sifang Co. Ltd.
The battery solution aims to provide the new MTR trains with up to 60 minutes of backup power to support vital control and safety functions. When a train lose its main power supply, it will take over lighting, air conditioning and door opening systems as well as new dynamic route maps.
Saft will supply the batteries to the Chinese company in the form of kits and delivery of the first of will be expected to commence shortly, with completion scheduled for 2022.
The new trains, featuring more modern operating systems and equipment, will be delivered between 2018 and 2023.
The project’s SRM cells are designed and manufactured in Saft’s Bordeaux factory in France, the batteries are assembled in Saft’s Zhuhai factory in China.
“The contract also further extends a long-running association with the Hong Kong MTR as we have previously supplied batteries for trains on the West Island line and are currently delivering a contract for refurbished trains in the New Territories,” said Philippe Ulrich, Saft’s general manager and director of Sales Asia.
