A Second Hitachi Company Heads for the North East

HM Plant are looking forward to welcoming a second Hitachi company to join our Head Office in the North East of England, following the announcement by the British Government on 1 March that Hitachi are their preferred supplier for the £4.5bn Intercity Express Programme and confirming that the Hitachi trains will be manufactured at Bishop Auckland in County Durham.

The world class rolling stock manufacturing facility will be built at a site just forty minutes away from HM Plant’s Head Office and will produce 530 new trains over a twenty year period to replace the current decades old stock. The new factory will create 500 new jobs for the region and hundreds more in the supply chain, and is estimated to deliver a £660m boost to the North East over twenty years.

The factory will be built next year and opens in 2013, with the first bi-mode, diesel and electric trains being delivered three years later, with one hundred on stream by 2018. Most of the new trains will run from London to Cardiff, while others will be added to East Coast Mainline peak hour services to Newcastle and Leeds.

The new fleet of Hitachi Super Express Trains are state of the art and environmentally sustainable, being 15-40% lighter per seat than the train it replaces it will use less energy to deliver improved journey times and will be three times more reliable. It will incorporate the World’s first high speed hybrid traction power source, delivering a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 15%. It is also designed to facilitate changes in the traction power source, thus supporting progressive electrification of the UK rail network.

HM Plant Representative:

"We are delighted that the Government have confirmed that Hitachi is their chosen supplier for the Intercity Express Programme, and fully support Hitachi’s decision to bring their manufacturing facility to the North East. Having opened our Head Office here seven years ago, I am sure that their management team will appreciate and benefit from the work ethic and attitude of the people of this North East region.

As most HM Plant customers already know, Hitachi continue to be at the forefront of technology in every market sector that they operate in and provide innovative solutions to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our environment"

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