Hitachi secures £2.2-bn loan for UK rail project
26 Jul 2012
Hitachi UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate Hitachi Ltd, has signed a deal with Japan Bank of International Cooperation for a loan of £2.2 billion ($3.4 billion) for the manufacture and maintenance of trains for UK's Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line.
Agility Trains, a consortium consisting of Hitachi UK and British infrastructure major John Laing Plc has been awarded a £4.5 billion contract yesterday by UK's department of transport (DoT) to build and maintain trains under the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), DoT said in a statement.
The IEP project envisages replacement of Britain's 125 intercity trains with new higher capacity modern trains.
Hitachi's secured loan facility will have a maturity of 20 to 30 years according to sources.
Tokyo-based Hitachi, which provided high-speed trains for the British side of the channel tunnel, will assemble a fleet of 92 intercity trains at the new purpose-built factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham in north east England.
The project will create 730 skilled jobs with a further 200 during construction of the factory itself and securing thousands more in the country's supply chain.
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