First HS2 rolling stock ordered from manufacturing consortium
Hitachi Rail and Alstom will share a major contract to build and maintain the UK’s first fleet of over 50 very high speed trains.
ALSTOM and Hitachi Rail confirmed on December 9 that the HitachiAlstom High Speed (HAH-S) 50/50 joint venture had signed contracts with High Speed Two (HS2) to design, build, and maintain a fleet of very high speed trains for HS2 Phase 1 as part of a £1.97 billion contract, that also includes maintenance of the new rolling stock for a 12-year period.
The manufacturers claim the 200m-long, all-electric eight-car units will be Europe’s fastest operational trains, capable of operating at maximum speeds of 225mph (360 kph), although it is unclear what line speeds will actually be adopted when HS2 Phase 1 opens. It is also uncertain whether the new units, which will run on all-new infrastructure between London Euston and Birmingham
Curzon Street, will be built to the wider European loading gauge or to the more restricted UK one, that will be required for trains built for further phases of HS2.
A total of 54 new trains (432 individual vehicles) have been ordered and they will be built in the UK, at Hitachi Rail’s base in Newton Aycliffe, Country Durham and Alstom facilities in Derby and Crewe. The unit price of each train – expected to appear from 2027 – hasn’t been announced.