KONE wins important order for China's national high-speed railway
project
KONE Corporation, press release, May 25, 2009
Further strengthening its position as a major player in the Chinese
infrastructure segment, KONE was chosen to supply 342 KONE
TransitMasterTM escalators for China's national high-speed railway
project, also known as the Beijing-Shanghai Express Railway. In
addition, KONE was awarded a maintenance contract on all equipment
for a period of two years.
Once completed, the new high-speed railway system will link China's
two major economic zones in approximately five hours. The project,
spanning over 1,300 kilometers and 24 different railway stations
along the Beijing-Shanghai corridor, began in April 2008 and is being
undertaken by China's Ministry of Railways.
Due to the large number of stations spread across hundreds of
kilometers, this landmark project required technical expertise and
competences to offer reliable solutions in remote areas.
"KONE is extremely proud to align itself with this landmark project
which will greatly improve the travel between China's two largest
cities," says Ari Lehtoranta, EVP, Major Projects, KONE. "Two main
factors were crucial in the customer's decision for this order:
Safety, confirmed by thousands of our installations around the world,
and dependability, through our reliable escalator offering. Our
excellent maintenance program was also a key factor in winning the
equipment order and servicing agreement."
About KONE
KONE's objective is to offer the best people flow experience by
developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move
smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an
increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides its customers with
industry-leading elevators, escalators and innovative solutions for
modernization and maintenance, and is one of the global leaders in
its industry. In 2008, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.6 billion
and over 34,800 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.
www.kone.com
For further information, please contact:
Ari Lehtoranta, Executive Vice President, Major Projects, tel.
+358 204 75 4288
Anne Korkiakoski, Executive Vice President, Marketing &
Communications, tel. +358 (0)50 674 11
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
