At 9:03 a.m. on September 30, Fuxing train G43, numbered CR400AF-X-2544, departed Beijing South Railway Station for Hangzhou East Railway Station, marking the official entry into service of the upgraded intelligent Fuxing EMUs. According to a source from the passenger car division of CRRC Corporation Limited who spoke to China Business Journal, this upgrade was led and organized by China State Railway Group, with joint participation in research and development by CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, CRRC Qingdao Sifang, and CRRC Tangshan. A source from Sifang's overall vehicle design department said the CR400AF-X intelligent upgraded EMU put into service this time is the latest upgraded version of China's intelligent Fuxing trains, with a maximum operating speed of 350 kilometers per hour, an eight-car formation with four motor cars and four trailer cars, and a seating capacity of 619 passengers. It adds an emergency self-propelled function, carries highly safe and reliable power batteries, and can travel more than 40 kilometers on battery power without relying on external overhead line power supply. It is also the first to adopt 10-gigabit Ethernet technology. Dong Xueyan, a senior engineer at CRRC Changchun, said the train optimizes emergency braking logic and adds an extreme braking function, which can shorten braking distance by 23 percent at an operating speed of 350 kilometers per hour, while also carrying an intelligent air pressure adjustment system to ease ear discomfort in tunnels. Research and design of this model began in 2025, and the first prototype completed final assembly and left the factory for testing in early August 2026. At present, a total of six CR400AF-X EMUs have been put into service in the first batch, and the number in operation and the scope of routes will be expanded later according to railway department arrangements. In addition, the CR450 EMU prototypes, the world's fastest high-speed trains, have completed all operational assessment, and both prototypes have returned to CRRC Changchun and CRRC Sifang for final analysis and verification. Two short-formation CR220J power-concentrated EMU prototypes with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour have also completed 400,000 kilometers of operational assessment for new products.
CRRC Corp Ltd Class ACRRC units developed and deployed the upgraded intelligent Fuxing EMU with new battery self-propulsion, 10-gigabit Ethernet, and improved braking, a product/R&D milestone for the company.
