Press release -
GB Railfreight celebrates relationship with Hitachi Rail Europe by naming Class 66 locomotive
Melton Mowbray, April 27th, 2015 – GB Railfreight today celebrated its relationship with Hitachi Rail Europe by naming one its Class 66 locomotives ‘Inspiration Delivered’ at Network Rail’s Rail Innovation Development Centre (RIDC, formerly known as Old Dalby).
Locomotive 66751 was named ‘Inspiration Delivered’ in collaboration with Hitachi Rail Europe and in recognition of the innovation and reliability of Hitachi Rail Europe’s business.
The naming plaque was unveiled by John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, and Andy Rogers, Projects Director at Hitachi Rail Europe, and was witnessed by representatives from the Department for Transport, Agility Trains, Network Rail, Virgin Trains East Coast and First Great Western.
Locomotive 66751 will be used as a dedicated resource to haul Hitachi Rail Europe’s Class 800 pre-series train for the InterCity Express Programme (IEP) between RIDC and the East Coast Main Line.
The naming ceremony also signifies the commitment GB Railfreight has to supporting Hitachi Rail Europe’s testing programme.
John Smith, Managing Director of GB Railfreight, said:
“We’re delighted to be supporting Hitachi Rail Europe with its testing programme for IEP. This ceremony highlights our commitment to the project, and the name “Inspiration Delivered” successfully reflects the wider innovation and reliability of Hitachi Rail Europe’s business. We aim to carry out the testing effectively and support Hitachi Rail Europe in its delivery of IEP.”
Andy Rogers, Projects Director from Hitachi Rail Europe, said:
“This is a proud moment for Hitachi Rail Europe to have this Class 66 locomotive named after Hitachi Rail Europe’s values, reflecting our expertise in innovation and on time delivery.”
Andy goes on to say;
“We would like to thank all our industry partners and key stakeholders for their support today and we look forward to inviting them all to the opening ceremony of the Hitachi Rail Europe Newton Aycliffe Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility very soon.”
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About Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd.
Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Europe, Ltd. and is headquartered in London, UK.
Hitachi Rail Europe is a total railway system supplier offering rolling stock, traction equipment, signalling, traffic management systems, and maintenance depots.
Hitachi draws on many years of experience as a leading supplier of high-speed trains such as the Shinkansen (bullet train) for the Japanese and international markets. In Europe, Hitachi Rail Europe’s first rolling stock contract was to deliver a fleet of 29 Class 395 trains, the first domestic high-speed train in the UK, which are maintained at Hitachi’s state of the art depot in Ashford, Kent. As part of the British Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme, Hitachi Rail Europe will replace the UK’s ageing fleet of Intercity trains, and will establish a new rolling stock manufacturing facility in the UK for this purpose. The trains will be maintained and services in a number of new maintenance
depots along the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line.
For more information about the company, please visit: www.Hitachirail-eu.com .
