07.01.15
Shipment of Hitachi’s first Class 800 train for IEP begins
The shipment of the first completed pre-series Class 800 train for the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme (IEP) has begun, Hitachi Ltd has confirmed.
Unveiled in November 2014, the Class 800 is now being shipped from Kasado Works in Yamaguchi, Japan.
It is expected that the train will arrive in the UK in March, after which it will be equipped with various measurement devices for testing.
Hitachi Rail Europe will start running tests in April, to enable acceptance by Agility Trains, the special-purpose company that will own the trains, and who will provide the fleet for the operating companies First Great Western and Inter City Railways.
Alistair Dormer, Global CEO of Hitachi Rail, said: “After unveiling this train in November last year, I am immensely proud that we today see the first shipment leave our factory in Kasado.
“Our engineering teams in the UK and Japan have been working exceptionally hard with all stakeholders to ensure that this train will be ready for testing in the UK from April this year onward.”
Hitachi is building a train factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The £82m plant will be completed in summer 2015, with train production to start in 2016.
The hiring of employees for the train plant has already started, and a total of approximately 730 staff members are eventually expected to be hired, including research and development facilities staff.
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