The Polish and Japanese manufacturers have signed a strategic partnership agreement. Under it, they have submitted a joint bid in a Polish tender to supply national operator PKP Intercity with up to 55 high-speed trains.
PKP Intercity launched the tender at the end of 2025, seeking 20 high-speed trains with an option for 35 more. The rolling stock will reach 320 km/h and is destined for the high-speed network now being built. The dual-system trains are to seat up to 450 passengers, and eight companies had already declared their interest.
Pesa and Hitachi Rail are offering trains based on the ETR 1000 platform (pictured), also known as the Zefiro V300. Hitachi Rail has delivered more than 70 of these sets to Italian national operator FS and Spain’s Iryo, among them the upgraded version.
The Polish order would be built in two stages. Hitachi Rail’s Italian plants would deliver the firm batch of 20, and exercising the option would draw in Pesa’s capacity and steadily raise the level of localisation. Pesa would also maintain every train it supplies for 30 years.
The memorandum hands Pesa the technology to build aluminium carbodies and double-deck EMUs. To make room for this work, Pesa plans new production buildings at its Bydgoszcz plant; it earlier secured €1.6 bln to expand production, win new contracts and fund R&D.
Pesa first signalled its move into high-speed rolling stock back in 2022, when Spain’s Talgo was its intended partner. The company presented a concept and, with the clock against it, said it would look for a global partner that had the expertise it lacked. The two signed a memorandum in 2024 but never firmed it up into a binding deal.
The shift also follows a setback elsewhere in the field: in June, fellow Polish manufacturer Newag walked away from a preliminary agreement with Germany’s Siemens Mobility to bid jointly for the same tender, the two sides having failed to settle terms.
