Founded in 1950, CARS is the only comprehensive research institute with multi-disciplines and multi-specialties in China Railway industry. It has developed into a large-scale scientific and technological enterprise integrating the business of scientific and technological innovation, technological services, achievement transformation, consultation and supervision, inspection and certification, and talent cultivation.
CARS consists of 17 units, including Locomotive & Car Research Institute, Railway Engineering Research Institute, Signal & Communication Research Institute, Transportation & Economics Research Institute, Metals & Chemistry Research Institute, Institute of Computing Technology, Energy Saving & Environmental Protection & Occupational Safety and Health Research (Railway Energy Saving & Environment Protection Technology Center, Railway Hygiene Technology Center), Standards & Metrology Research Institute (Quality Supervision & Inspection Center for Railway Products, CR Railway Products Certification Center, National Rail-Weighbridge Metrology Center, National Rail Tankers Volume Metrology Center), Scientific & Technical Information Research Institute, Infrastructure Inspection Research Institute (Railway Infrastructure Inspection Center, MOR), Railway Science & Technology Research and Development Center, National Railway Track Test Center, Railway Technology Research College (Railway Further Education Training Center), Beijing Engineering Consultation Co., Ltd. of CARS, Shenzhen Research and Design Institute, CARS Logistics Service Center, Jiayuan Hotel Service Co., Ltd. of CARS. CARS has 32 wholly-owned companies and 7 holding companies.
CARS boasts the only national loop line testing base in Asia and 5 national laboratories such as National Research Center of System Engineering of Railway Intelligent Transport, State Key Laboratory for Track Technology of High-Speed Railway, National Engineering Laboratories for System Test of High-Speed Railway, Equipment Testing Line of Urban Rail Transit, State Key Laboratory for Traction and Control System of Locomotive and EMU. CARS has over 40 specialized laboratories equipped with 6991 sets of laboratory facilities.
As one of the initially approved units granting master's and doctor’s degree, it now has developed into a first-level discipline doctorate degree granting institution for Traffic Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering, 2 mobile postdoctoral centers, 6 doctoral degree programs, and 17 master's degree programs. It is one of the first batch of 20 national-level further education training bases for specialized technical personnel in China.
As a national high-tech enterprise, CARS has been granted with ISO9001:2008 Quality Management System Certificate, OHSAS18001:2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certificate, ISO14001:2004 Environment Standard Management System Certificate, and 8 qualification certificates for design, consultation and evaluation, such as environmental impact assessment. The main laboratories affiliated to CARS have been accredited by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) and China Inspection Body and Laboratory Mandatory Approval (CMA). CARS is now an official member of the International Union of Railways (UIC) and a Chinese technical counterpart of ISO/TC 269. CARS has established long-term relationships with railway scientific research institutions and organizations in more than 20 countries and regions.
