Hitachi Ltd. of Japan and French partner Alstom SA won a £2 billion (¥300 billion) contract to supply a fleet of 360 kph electric trains for Britain’s new HS2 high-speed railway.
The consortium, formed by Hitachi and the former Bombardier Transportation business taken over by Alstom in January, will build 54 trains for the first section of track from London Euston station to Birmingham in central England, according to a statement Thursday from HS2 Ltd.
The mega-order will support or create thousands of jobs and boost Britain’s two main train factories, the historic Litchurch Lane works in Derby, central England, now run by Alstom, and Hitachi’s newer Newton Aycliffe plant in the northeast. Manufacture of the 200-meter long trains, which will double up into 16-car formations carrying more 1,000 passengers, begins in 2025.