UK: HAH-S, the joint venture of French and Japanese manufacturers, has signed contracts with HS2 Ltd. for the supply and maintenance of 54 high-speed EMUs worth £1.97 bln ($2.6 bln USD). The maximum speed of the EMUs should be 360 km/h.
Alstom and Hitachi Rail are to design the rolling stock, manufacture and service it for at least 12 years (the corresponding initial contract has been signed). It is planned to produce 8-car trains within the three sites of the companies located in the UK. The first EMUs are expected to be released in 2027, and to enter commercial operation (be commercialized) in 2029-2033. The rolling stock and related components order is assumed to create 2,500 additional job opportunities in the UK. Also Alstom and Hitachi Rail plan to invest £5 mln ($6.6 mln USD) in the UK universities R&D.
Earlier this month, Alstom has agreed to transfer a share of former Bombardier Transportation (acquired by Alstom in early 2021) in V300 Zefiro high-speed train technology and production to Hitachi Rail. The European Commission required the French manufacturer to take such a step within the established behavioral conditions for Alstom and Bombardier merger. The regulator’s decision was motivated by the goal of ensuring the stability of the rolling stock supply for the HS2 project in case of the Japanese manufacturer’s victory. The deal is scheduled to close in the first half of 2022.
The High-Speed 2 (HS2) line will run from south to north and will connect the largest cities in the UK. The first section should be built between London and Birmingham, the second – between Birmingham and Wigan (a city in the metropolitan area of Manchester). The total length of the HS2 should be 530 km. The construction of the first section was approved to begin by the UK Department of Transport in April 2020, also as a countermeasure to the negative economic effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported by IRJ, Germany’s Siemens Mobility and Spain’s Talgo and CAF also took part in the tender for the HS2 supply. It was planned to name the winner at the beginning of 2020, but the decision was postponed several times, in part because of participants’ complaints. So, in March 2021, Talgo filed a lawsuit on the unreasonable dismissal of her application; it was possible to come to an agreement with the company managing the HS2 project in the middle of summer. Then the complaint came from Siemens Mobility, but its details were not disclosed.
