On track for high-speed success Hitachi Rail Europe

ON TRACK FOR

HIGH-SPEED SUCCESS

Hitachi Rail Europe is a leading total railway system supplier that manufactures rolling stock, traction equipment, signalling and traffic management systems. Philip Yorke talked to Daren Cumner, the company’s plant manager, about its new state-of-the-art facility at Newton Aycliff, Durham, and the delivery of the country’s first high-speed, Class 395 trains.

Hitachi Rail Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Europe, headquartered in London, UK. Hitachi draws on many years of experience as a leading global supplier of high-speed trains such as the Shinkansen (bullet train) for the Japanese and international markets. In Europe Hitachi Rail Europe’s first rolling stock contract was to deliver a fleet of 29 class 395 trains, which are the UK’s first high-speed trains. As part of the British Department of Transport’s Intercity Express Programme, the company will replace the country’s ageing fleet of Intercity trains and it has established an £82 million facility in Durham UK for this purpose. The trains will be maintained and serviced at a number of new maintenance depots built by Hitachi along the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line.

Global technology leaders

In 2013 the British government launched a rail industry supply chain forum in order to support small and medium sized UK businesses.

Hitachi’s decision to relocate its global train business headquarters to London increased hopes that this heralded the start of a new era in rail efficiency and reliability in the UK. The 460,000 square ft plant at Newton Aycliff, Durham, is the Japanese company’s first European train facility and was given the go-ahead after the British Government awarded Hitachi Rail Europe the coveted Intercity Express Programme in 2012.

Hitachi leads the world in train systems technology and has built a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to produce its advanced trains and rail systems. This involves the design and manufacture of the next generation of trains for the East Coast and Great Western main line systems. The contract, which is worth almost £6 billion, includes a maintenance programme that runs for 27 years. In total Hitachi is set to build 122 trains comprising 866 carriages. Hitachi has also been named by Abellio, part of the Dutch State Operator, as the preferred bidder to build 70 trains for ScotRail.

Cumner said, “Our 31-acre site at Newton Aycliffe sets new standards in plant design and efficiency and took 665 days to build from the day it was launched in May 2012. The plant will eventually support over 7000 jobs and more than 95 per cent of the workforce will be sourced from the north-east of England. We manufacture full train sets in a modern flow process that compares to those in Japan which, like us, have low volume, premium products that offer optimal

efficiency and exceptional reliability. Our new class 395 series of trains are based upon the famous bullet trains of Japan and, despite the restrictions imposed by the infrastructure in the UK, they will be capable of travelling up to 140mph. However, this will be dwarfed by the speeds possible on the new HS2 system, which will be capable of speeds up to 225mph. In addition to intercity and commuter trains we will also be producing new electric Metro trains, which have aluminium bodies that are much lighter than traditional trains and offer greater efficiency and significantly lower track wear.

Cumner added, “As part of our contract we will be building depots up and down the country to service the new trains and rolling stock, so we are not just delivering the assets but making sure the trains go into service every day. We benefit greatly from being a part of Hitachi of Japan and having access to their world-beating technologies. The company as a whole employs more than 330,000 people worldwide and has significant resources both financially and technically.

“We have not only focused on building a state-of-the-art facility but also on the quality of our employees as we firmly believe that good people make good products. We have started a major apprenticeship and graduate programme and have sponsored the building of a new university technical college, which will be the first of its kind in the UK. As a result, more than 600 students will be able to learn engineering disciplines that will enable them to become part of the Hitachi family of companies in due course.”

Chain reaction

The start-up of a project as big as the contract won by Hitachi Rail Europe, (worth almost £5 billion), requires exceptional expertise in a number of key areas. Supply chain management is possibly one of the most important as it touches on every aspect of the operations concerning the success of such a major project. To manage the procurement of essential equipment, components and suppliers, the company launched ‘Project Springboard’ to deal with the IEP (Intercity Express Programme), which involves replacing the entire fleet of intercity trains running on the East Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line. As a result over 70 per cent of all parts, systems and operations for the news trains have been purchased from UK-based businesses. This includes windows from Durham-based Romag, on-board servers from Nomad Digital located in Newcastle and passenger counting systems from Gateshead-based Petard.

Following the placing of contracts with its suppliers, Hitachi Rail hosted a major event at the transport trade fair InnoTrans in Berlin to celebrate its key suppliers to the IEP. Jamie Foster, Procurement director, Hitachi Rail Europe, said, “The Hitachi Rail procurement team spent a long time looking for the best suppliers to provide high quality products, exceptional reliability and real value for money over the lifetime of our trains. With the companies we have recognised here today, we have found the right fit for us. We are proud that we have been able to find companies in the UK and Europe to fulfil our requirements.”

Great expectations

On 30 June, the UK’s Great Western Railway unveiled its first of a fleet of new Hitachi trains as part of a ceremony celebrating 175 years to the day since the very first train ran on the line between Bristol and London. The new Hitachi fleet is being introduced as part of the biggest investment on this railway since Brunel, including the electrification of the Great Western Main Line. All these trains will be manufactured at the Newton Aycliffe plant and will offer more seating, greater legroom, free Wi-Fi and power sockets on each seat. In addition there will be LCD reservation indicators and increased space in overhead luggage racks. The fleet will be introduced into regular service in the summer of 2017.

Andy Rogers, projects director at Hitachi Rail Europe said, “This is a momentous day for GWR, as it celebrates 175 years of the Great Western Main Line service and looks forward to an exciting future for fare-paying passengers. The brand new fleet of Hitachi trains that enter into service next year will transform passenger’s experience to and from the South West and bring significant benefits to people and communities along the UK’s most important railway lines.” n