Press release -
Hitachi Begins Shipment of Trains from Kasado Works for the UK Intercity Express Programme
Tokyo, Japan, January 7, 2015 --- Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, “Hitachi”) announced today that it has begun shipment of the first completed pre-series Class 800 train unveiled in November 2014. The train has been produced for the UK Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme (IEP), and following its recent completion is now being shipped from Kasado Works in Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
This project is being undertaken based on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme led by the British Department for Transport. Financial support is being provided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), among other organisations.
The train being shipped will arrive in the UK in March of this year, after which it will be equipped with various measurement devices for testing. This train is scheduled to begin running tests, as well as serving for training of onboard staff, from April of this year. The running tests are to be carried out on the UK Rail Network by Hitachi Rail Europe, to enable acceptance by Agility Trains, the special-purpose company that will own the trains, and who will provide the trains for the operating companies First Great Western and Inter City Railways.
The train shipped today will arrive at Kobe Port on January 22, and will be bound for the UK after being loaded on a large ship.
Hitachi is currently in the process of building a Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility at Hitachi Rail Europe in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, in the UK. This plant, which represents an investment of approximately £82 million, will be completed in summer 2015, and production of Class 800 series trains is scheduled to begin in 2016. The hiring of employees for the train plant has already begun, and a total of approximately 730 staff members are eventually expected to be hired, including research and development facilities staff.
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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 .
