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UK signs £4.5bn Hitachi train contract

The UK has signed a £4.5 billion contract with a Japanese consortium led by Hitachi to build 92 intercity trains in a new factory in County Durham, in a move which will create 900 jobs.

The Agility Consortium, comprised of Hitachi and John Laing construction has consistently been the preferred bidder for the contract, which many had hoped to conclude by december 2009.

596 railway carriages will be built at the Hitachi factory, creating 730 skilled jobs and a further 200 in the course of construction on the site.

Hitachi also now plan to locate its European rail research and development facilities in County Durham, which will help to enhance the factory’s ability to win other rail contracts in Europe.

It is hoped that the contract will be key to breaking the dominance of Siemens, Bombardier and Alsthom in the international rail market.

It now aims to commence production as early as 2016 at a rate of 35 rail cars each month, and will replace all existing diesel-powered trains dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.

New stock will be a mixture of all-electric and “bi-mode” diesel-electric trains.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .