1899–1952 (map draw in 1912). The locomotive factory in Dalian was founded in 1899, contemporary with the construction of the southern branch of the
Chinese Eastern Railway during the lease of the
Liaodong Peninsula from China to the
Russian Empire, and to the development of Dalian as a port and town. In 1905, the "
Shahekou Plant" came under Japanese control as a result of the
Treaty of Portsmouth, and in 1906 the railway from Dalian to
Changchun became part of the Japanese controlled
South Manchurian Railway. In 1934 the factory together with
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, manufactured the
Asia Express high speed steam train for the South Manchuria Railway. In 1945 at the end of the
Second World War the city came under Soviet Russian control. The
Changchun Railway was jointly operated by China and Russia until 1952, when control was passed entirely to the Chinese government. The Soviet administration of Dalian ended in 1950, however the USSR continued to station troops there until 1955.
1952–2000 In 1956 the company manufactured the
China Railways HP prototype 2-10-2
steam locomotive, and in 1957, the first
China Railways JS class 2-8-2 locomotive, of which 1916 were built at different plants. as well as other steam locomotives. Diesel locomotives were developed and produced at the plant, a prototype diesel electric type "
JuLong" () was produced in 1958 based on the Russian
ТЭ10 locomotive and
Fairbanks-Morse FM38D opposed piston engine, which led to the
DF class diesel electric locomotives entered production in 1964. The change from steam to diesel production began in 1965, and developments were produced in the following decades; including the DF4B in 1984, the DF4D in 1996. In the 1980s the company began a decade long research partnership with
Ricardo plc into increasing the power output and efficiency of its DL240 diesel engine products. In 1997 it began working with
Southwest Research Institute (USA) on the design of a new locomotive diesel engine. The company first exported a mainline
diesel locomotive in 1993 (to
Myanmar), by the middle of the first decade of the 21st century the company had exported over 200 diesel locomotives.
2000–present Dalian locomotive works' parent company, state-owned China National Railway Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corporation (LORIC), was split into the northern and southern groups in 2002; the locomotive works part of
China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation along with other rail vehicle manufacturers in China. The locomotive works was also incorporated as a limited company in 2003, Also in the 2000s the diesel electric locomotives
China Railways HXN3 were produced at Dalian in association with
GM EMD. As part of the
initial public offering, the stake of CRN Dalian was transferred to an intermediate holding company
China CNR in 2008. In 2009 the company obtained its first export order to supply locomotives to a western country, an order for 20
New Zealand DL class locomotives. In 2009 the groundbreaking ceremony took place for a new plant in the
Lüshun economic development zone (
Lushunkou District); the new facility was developed in conjunction with the municipal council of Dalian city. The facility, on a site, is designed to have a production of around 1000 locomotives, 1000 rail vehicles and 1000 diesel engines per year. The plant officially opened in August 2011, the first vehicles on the production line were metro passenger units for
Line 2, Tianjin Metro. In 2015, they delivered the prototype of the
8MLB light rail vehicle to
Manila as part of the
MRT Line 3 capacity expansion project. Being the first light rail vehicles made by the company, these faced several controversies, including weight and compatibility issues, as well as contractual restrictions involving the
Department of Transportation (DOTr) and
Sumitomo Corporation-
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-TES Philippines (TESP) consortium overseeing the line's rehabilitation. After 10 years of storage, and following technical audits by
TÜV Rheinland and final safety checks by Sumitomo, the 8MLB LRVs officially entered regular revenue service on July 16, 2025. One of the company's latest export orders came in January 2015 from the
Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority for 15 metro trains for the
Lagos Rail Mass Transit system in Nigeria, with an option for 14 more. This order came about following a failed acquisition of old
H-series carriages retired from the
Toronto Subway. In the same year an order was placed for 14 eight car trains for
Blue Line of the
Kolkata Metro. ==Products and services==