Great Britain: Alstom and Hitachi land an order for 54 high-speed trains

PARIS (Reuters) – Alstom and Hitachi have won a contract worth nearly two billion pounds (2.3 billion euros) for the manufacture and maintenance of high-speed trains as part of the High Speed ​​project Two in Great Britain, French and Japanese groups announced Thursday.

The order obtained by the 50/50 Hitachi-Alstom High Speed ​​(HAH-S) joint venture concerns the production of 54 trains with a top speed of 360 km / h, which will be “the fastest in Europe”, and the initial maintenance of the trains for twelve years, Alstom and Hitachi said in a press release.

Launched ten years ago by the British government, the High Speed ​​2 project plans to serve the north of England and the Midlands by TGV in several phases, the first by connecting London to Birmingham by 2026, the second by connecting Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds by 2033.

The contract obtained by Hitachi and Alstom concerns the first phase. It will be executed by the new Hitachi Rail welding facility in Newton Aycliffe, by a new production line at the Alstom plant in Derby and by a new Alstom bogie manufacturing facility in Crewe, three towns located in England. It will create and sustain thousands of “green jobs”, according to the two groups.

(Written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)