Heavy-haul trains safeguard winter warmth and national energy security

Jing Shengqi, a heavy-haul train driver on the Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway, the world's largest railway in terms of annual freight volume, sees his job as challenging but meaningful.

This winter, the railway has been carrying more than 1.2 million metric tons of coal per day, which is mainly used by power plants to ensure sufficient coal supply in winter and to help safeguard national energy security.

"Driving a train on the Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway has a lot of challenges, as the railway line crosses the Taihang Mountains and Yanshan Mountains, with complicated track conditions such as traversing slopes and sharp curves," said Jing. "I am very proud to drive heavy-haul trains to deliver coal to ports, guaranteeing the supply of coal for the country's industrial production and people's lives, and guarding national energy security."

Jing is known for his innovative heavy-haul train driving techniques at Hudong electric locomotive depot.

A single trip for the heavy-haul train takes about 10 hours without stopping points during the whole journey, which makes the train difficult to handle and requires highly skilled drivers, said Jing.

The 653-kilometer Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway runs from Datong, Shanxi province, to Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. The railway serves 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as more than 380 power plants and 6,000 mining enterprises.

Over the past 30 years, the cumulative freight volume has exceeded 8.7 billion tons.

"Freight volume has reached a peak this winter as we are making efforts to guarantee the demand for coal for heating and power generation in many places of the country," said Chai Baoquan, deputy director of the Hudong electric locomotive depot operated by China Railway Taiyuan Group Co Ltd.

The Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway mainly carries cargo transport, especially coal, with an annual coal shipping volume up to 451 million tons, Chai said.

About 90 pairs of heavy-haul trains assemble and depart from Hudong station to Qinhuangdao from where the coal is shipped to power plants across the country by sea.

The use of 20,000-ton trains helps to improve transportation capability, catering to the increased demand for coal for power generation.

Hudong electric locomotive depot provided sufficient support for increased coal transportation by improving the frequency of transport and speeding up the training of new drivers, increasing the number of skilled drivers for 20,000-ton trains from 600 to 650.

China Railway Taiyuan said that it increased the frequency of transport and coal loading points to guarantee the coal demand of power plants in accordance with the arrangement of coal production.

The train can keep moving at a constant speed instead of stopping in the process of coal loading through the automated rapid loading system, which improves the loading efficiency with an average loading of over 500 compartments per day.

"Our responsibility is to ensure the quality of coal loading and the operation of the trains. The trains could be up to 2.6 kilometers in total length. A 20,000-ton train has 210 compartments, and it takes more than six hours to load them all," said Ding Weiren, a coal-loading employee working on the railway.

The operation of a number of energy transport channels and the application of Fuxing heavy-haul trains in the future are expected to jointly enhance the capacity of coal transport in winter, according to the railway's operator.