KONE has won a major order to supply 178 KONE MonoSpace® elevators and 226 KONE TransitMaster(TM) escalators to 46 railway stations across China. The stations are on nine lines of China's national high-speed network connecting cities in eight provinces.

KONE's heavy-duty escalators are designed to meet the heavy People Flow demands of mass transit. The good track record of KONE's equipment, the delivery and maintenance systems have been recognized by the Ministry of Railways with this large-scale order.

"We are honored to be chosen by the Ministry of Railways to provide our equipment for another significant infrastructure project," says Noud Veeger, EVP and Area Director of KONE Asia Pacific. "KONE is proud to contribute to smoother people flow across the country by providing world-class eco-efficient solutions, in line with China's recently published sustainability targets."

China has been rapidly expanding its high-speed railway network as it is seen as an eco-efficient way to boost the expansion of China's transportation system. This latest project will develop the Central Region as well as the Yangtze River Delta and the northern Bohai Bay economic zones. KONE's solutions will be installed as far north as Hailar in Inner Mongolia and 3,000 kilometers south in the coastal city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province.

KONE will start installing the elevators and escalators in April 2011 and the stations are scheduled to open in 2012. The order was booked in Q1 2011.