Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
July 18, 2013
Class 800 is based on the highly successful Class 395 Javelin™ trains
LONDON, July 18, 2013 - Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. today welcomed the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin to replace the current train fleet on the East Coast Main Line with Hitachi Class 800 series trains in a £1.2bn deal.
The order will see Hitachi Rail Europe build an additional 30 nine-car electric trains for the East Coast Main Line in the train builder's state-of-the-art factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham which represents a £82 million investment in manufacturing in the North East of England. The deal will reinforce UK train manufacturing capability once again making it globally competitive and raising the prospect of the UK being able to compete for export orders in European markets.
The confirmation to use the new Class 800 series trains instead of the Intercity 225s follows last year's announcement to replace the ageing fleet of Intercity 125 trains on the Great Western Main Line with the Hitachi Super Express Trains.
The new Class 800 series fleet will be eco-friendly with 12% energy and carbon saving per person per journey when compared with the existing electric rolling stock.
Secretary of State for Transport: Patrick McLoughlin, said:
""By signing this deal we have provided further proof of our determination to transform Britain's railways into a world-class operation through continued investment and state-of-the-art technology.
"This new order for Class 800 series trains is part of the Government's commitment to invest in our nation's infrastructure. This will not only deliver significant benefits to passengers by further slashing journey times and bolstering capacity, but will also stimulate economic growth through improved connectivity between some of Britain's biggest cities. This is good news for rail passengers and for British manufacturing."
Executive Chairman and CEO, Hitachi Rail Europe, Alistair Dormer, said:
"This follow-on order by the Department for Transport marks the successful conclusion of the Intercity Express Programme procurement process. It represents a welcome boost for Hitachi Rail Europe's train factory in County Durham with its 730 future employees and for the British supply chain. We have already signed contracts with a significant number of suppliers in the UK and Hitachi's procurement team is in negotiations with many more, providing jobs throughout the UK engineering supply chain."
"We are committed to the long-term development of engineering capability in the North East and aim to repeat the success of Nissan and Toyota in the automotive industry by bringing world class practices to UK train manufacturing."
Alistair Dormer continued:
"This is fantastic news for passengers travelling between London, Edinburgh and beyond. When we designed the new trains, we knew passengers and industry were very satisfied with our Class 395 Javelin™ train which we used as a blueprint and put a lot of thought into how we could step up to challenge of making the Class 800 trains as comfortable as possible for the long-distance passengers travelling on them. We have increased legroom, included airline-sized overhead luggage storage, high-quality hotel-standard toilets with baby changing facilities, conveniently located bike storage and many more features that will make every journey on the trains a great experience."
In July 2012, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening announced the close of contract for the core order of 92 Class 800 series trains (596 carriages) for the Intercity Express Programme. The trains will be manufactured by Hitachi Rail Europe in its newly built train factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham,
This new order has a total contract value of around £1.2bn covering their design, build, finance and maintenance over a 27.5 year period, This is part of the £5.8bn programme covering the design, build, finance and maintenance over a 27.5 year period of the class 800 series fleets of the Great Western and East Coast Main Lines.
Key features for passengers:
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
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2012 (ended March 31, 2013) totaled 9,041 billion yen ($96.1 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional material & components, automotive systems and others.
For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com
