THE Department for Transport has confirmed a new order worth £1.2 billion for Hitachi Intercity Express trains, bringing the future fleet to a total of 866 Class 800 vehicles.
Hitachi Rail Europe will build 30 more nine-car electric sets at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, and the additional order for 270 vehicles will allow the replacement in 2018-19 of the existing InterCity 225 sets, which include Mk4 coaches, on the East Coast Main Line.
The company said this represented a £82 million investment in manufacturing in the North East of England, and raised hopes that the UK would be able to compete for export orders in European markets.
Hitachi said the new fleets will be 'eco-friendly', saving 12 per cent energy and carbon when compared with the existing electric rolling stock.
Last year the Department for Transport agreed an initial order for 596 vehicles for the Great Western Main Line with Agility Trains, which is a consortium of Hitachi and John Laing. As well as building the new manufacturing site in County Durham, Hitachi is planning to build maintenance depots in Bristol, Swansea, west London and Doncaster, and also upgrade some existing depots
Transport secretary 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.”
The news was welcomed by Alistair Dormer, who is executive chairman and CEO of Hitachi Rail Europe. He added: "This follow-on order 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.”