CRRC Launches XUANKUN Platform for Hydrogen, Battery and Hybrid Rail Vehicles

China's CRRC has unveiled XUANKUN, a modular platform designed to accommodate hydrogen fuel cell, battery-electric and hybrid propulsion systems for rail vehicles.

The platform offers operators flexibility in selecting power sources suited to route electrification status and operational requirements. XUANKUN supports multiple propulsion configurations within a standardised design framework, enabling manufacturers to deliver vehicles tailored to varying infrastructure conditions without developing entirely new platforms for each power type.

The system architecture allows integration of fuel cells (which generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen), batteries (storing electrical energy for traction) and hybrid configurations that combine both technologies. CRRC has positioned the platform as suitable for deployment on routes where overhead electrification is absent or cost-prohibitive, including branch lines and secondary corridors.

China has expanded its portfolio of alternative traction systems as part of a strategy to reduce diesel consumption on non-electrified routes. The national operator China Railway has tested hydrogen-powered trainsets on several secondary lines, while battery-electric multiple units (BEMUs, which draw stored battery power across non-electrified sections) have entered revenue service in multiple provinces. CRRC, the state-owned rolling stock manufacturer, supplies the majority of passenger and freight vehicles to domestic operators and has secured export contracts in Asia, Africa and Latin America.