LONDON (Kyodo) The British government said Tuesday it is entering final negotiations with Hitachi Ltd. to supply a fleet of new express trains, a big step forward for the electronics giant to win the £4.5 billion (around ¥600 billion) deal.
The procurement process had been put on hold by the Conservative-led government launched last May due to fears over the cost of the contract, which was initially set at £7.5 billion (about ¥1 trillion).
But following talks, Agility Trains Ltd. — a consortium comprising Hitachi, British developer John Laing PLC and Barclays Private Equity — has come up with a cheaper deal of around £4.5 billion for around 100 trains, according to sources close to the deal.