A significant landmark moment in the UK manufacturing sector has been confirmed after HS2 Ltd signed a £2billion contract with Hitachi and French manufacturer Alstom to build state-of-the-art “bullet-style” trains In Britain, the Transport Secretary and HS2 Ltd announced yesterday.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This is another landmark step in the delivery of HS2 which will provide employment and leisure opportunities for millions of people, levelling up the opportunity for generations to come”.
It comes as Siemens reportedly dropped part of its suit against HS2 over the multi-billion pound building contract.
The JV deal will see the first stage of the trains’ designed and built at the Hitachi’s plant in Newton Aycliffe, Durham, then the second stage and testing will be carried out at the Alstom factories in Derby and Crewe.
The Hitachi site, which opened in 2015, currently employs around 700 staff, was a significant boost for manufacturing in the North East region, and this major announcement means there will be more highly skilled jobs and the opportunity to create many apprenticeships and further opportunities for young people, keeping young people in the north, and having to move south for work.
European countries like Japan and Germany show enormous benefits for communities and connect other bigger cities across the UK to the Capital in less time than the current rail network.
The ‘transformative’ project will build a fleet of 54 high-speed trains capable of travelling at 225mph (360kmph) between new lines across London, the West Midlands and Crewe, and existing lines from Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and then back to the Capital. This could provide up to 2,500 UK jobs across the sites, and the first trains are expected to be rolled out in 2027. “First passengers are expected to be carried between 2019 and 2033”, HS2 has said.
HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston said: “Today is a massive day for HS2. These trains will transform our rail travel, offering passengers unparalleled levels of reliability, speed and comfort, and help in the fight to remove carbon from our transport system. I want to congratulate Alstom and Hitachi, and we look forward to working with them to bring these exciting new trains to passengers across the UK.”
Building on the technology from the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train’, which started operation on October 1, 1964, and the European high-speed network expertise, to create some of the fastest, quietest, along with the and use regenerative braking to boost energy efficiency, minimising environmental impacts and helping decarbonise transport. HS2 said, “the trains will be 15% lighter and offer 30% more seats than comparable designs in Europe – such as the Italian ETR1000 built by JV between Hitachi Rail and Alstom and operated by Trenitalia in Italy, Spain and France”.
Hitachi has a successful history in working on side brilliant business in the supply chain, helping to create and grow some of the best employment, providing a boost to the regions.
