Hitachi and Toshiba win £720m contract to build high speed trains for Taiwan

Japanese multinationals Hitachi and Toshiba have won a £720m contract to build high speed trains for Taiwan.

The order from the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) is for 12 sets of new generation high speed trains, a total of 144 cars.

The Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium, as the partners are known, will provide trains based on the Central Japan Railway Company’s most advanced N700S model, with delivery to begin in 2026.

THSRC started operating high speed trains between Taipei and Kaohsiung in 2007, using the Japanese Shinkansen system. The new trains are aimed at boosting the capacity of passenger services.

The 300m length trains will operate at a maximum speed of 300km/h (186mph). The N700S-based trains will be lighter and more aerodynamic than the existing 700T, Hitachi said.

A compact traction system, combining silicon carbide (SiC) technology with blower-less cooling, is aimed at energy efficiency, while lithium-ion batteries will be included to power the train at low speed in the case of a power outage.

“In Taiwan, many people are already using the reliable high speed railway, which has provided unparalleled safety and reliability to passengers for more than a decade. It is anticipated that introducing the new rolling stock will encourage even more people to make the modal shift to environmentally friendly high speed railway,” the Hitachi announcement said.

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