Stoke Gifford factories celebrate 300th Hitachi train delivered for UK passengers
This month, Hitachi delivered its 300th train for UK passengers. The delivery of the latest Class 807 for Avanti West Coast represents a milestone in the ongoing transformation of the UK railways, which began with the introduction of the Class 395 Javelin train in June 2009.
Over the past 15 years, Hitachi Rail has collaborated with partners across the rail industry, making it possible to travel from Penzance to the Scottish Highlands on Hitachi trains.
The Hitachi Rail fleet includes Scotland’s fastest commuter train (Class 385) on Scotland’s Central Belt, the intercity Class 800 on the East Coast Mainline, to the UK’s fastest passenger train (Class 395) on HS1, the high-speed line from St Pancras International.
High levels of reliability have been achieved by Hitachi’s investment in maintenance infrastructure and skills, including the construction of brand-new maintenance centres in Ashford, Doncaster, and Bristol (Stoke Gifford). These modern facilities have become hubs for Hitachi to pioneer its digital maintenance and digital asset monitoring.
With 2,100 high-skilled maintenance employees across 16 sites, and leveraging an extensive UK supply chain, Hitachi’s maintenance operations contribute £500 million gross value add to UK economy every year.
Jim Brewin, Chief Director of UK & Ireland Hitachi Rail said: “Delivering our 300th UK train is symbolic of what the rail industry can achieve through strategic partnership.
“Transforming levels in reliability, capacity and performance across Britian’s railways is only possible due to quality of industry partners we have in the UK.
“Going from 1 to 300 trains in just 15 years is credit to incredible people that have embodied the spirit of Hitachi Rail. With exciting innovations in green and digital technology being developed in the UK, Hitachi Rail is already working towards the future.”
