LONDON, 9 DECEMBER 2008 – Hitachi Rail Group (Hitachi) today announced that the first production standard sets of new Class 395 trains for Southeastern's high speed service have been shipped from their factory in Kasado, Japan. The shipment follows successful testing of the first four units on the High Speed 1 line between Ashford and St Pancras and on the Kent DC network.
Alistair Dormer, General Manager of Hitachi Europe Rail Group, said: “Thanks to our colleagues in Japan, the first production standard trains of the new fleet of Class 395 rolling stock have left Japan on schedule and will arrive in the UK in February next year. Our customers HSBC Rail and Southeastern are satisfied with the quality of the trains and carried out a full inspection in Japan prior to shipping.”
Once in service, the trains will significantly cut journey times on many routes. They will also play a key role in providing fast and easy access to the London Olympic Games at Stratford in 2012, and will link the site to London St Pancras in just seven minutes. Part of Hitachi's A-Train product family, the new units will join the four test trains being maintained by Hitachi at the depot opened in Ashford, Kent, in November 2007.
Dormer continued: “In Japan, Hitachi trains have a reputation for excellent reliability, high quality and outstanding safety, and we are delighted that the shipment of our first trains will bring tangible proof of this to the UK market.”
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