 | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom [1] |
Key people | Giuseppe Marino (Group CEO) Mitsuo Iwasaki (Head of Japan Business) [2] Katsumi Ihara (Chairman of the board) [3] |
| Products | Railway systems and Railway signals |
Number of employees | 24,000 |
| Parent | Hitachi |
| Website | www |
Hitachi, Ltd. Railway Systems Business Unit, trading as Hitachi Rail, is the rolling stock and railway signalling manufacturing division of Hitachi outside Japan. [4] [5] [6]
After the demand for ships decreased following the end of the First World War, Hitachi, under its founder Namihei Odaira, acquired the Kasado Factory in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi from a nearly bankrupt shipbuilder. [7] This factory was converted into a locomotive manufacturing facility. In the 1920s, Hitachi's railway products included the JNR Class ED15 locomotives, the first electric mainline locomotives built in Japan, [8] and steam locomotives such as the Class 8620 and Class D50. [7] As mainline electrification progressed, Hitachi developed and produced much larger and more powerful electric locomotives, such as the Class EF55 streamliners (1936), the Class EF56 (1937), and the Class EF57 (1940). During this time, Hitachi also supplied locomotives to colonies in Taiwan, Korea, and the South Manchuria Railway.
After the Second World War, Hitachi primarily manufactured locomotives and other railway equipment for two decades. During this period, the company built the Class C62 locomotives, the largest and fastest steam locomotives in Japanese rail history. [7] One of these, C62 17, still holds the world steam speed record for narrow-gauge tracks at 129 km/h. Another notable Hitachi-built locomotive was the EF58, which operated on the Tokaido Main Line express trains alongside the C62. In the 1950s, diesel locomotives were introduced on non-electrified lines in remote parts of Japan. Japanese National Railways adopted two types of mainline diesel locomotives: the diesel-electric DF50 and the diesel-hydraulic DD51. Hitachi was involved in the development and manufacturing of both. [9]
In the 1950s, Hitachi began building electric multiple units (EMUs). Early examples include the Class 1000 Shinkansen prototypes (1962), the 0 Series Shinkansen (1964), and the Series 485 dual-voltage express train (1964). [7] Hitachi has been involved in the development of nearly all types of Shinkansen rolling stock, as well as their operating systems, including automatic train control. Hitachi also licensed the straddle-beam type of monorail from the German company Alweg, which it used for the Tokyo Monorail in 1964, the world's first commercial monorail service and one of the world's busiest monorail lines. [10] [11] This product line still exists today as Hitachi Monorail, which is used in ten monorail systems as of 2025.
Hitachi's rail division delivered 120 CQ311 series railcars to MARTA from 1984 to 1988.
Hitachi Rail Europe (legally Hitachi Rail Limited) was established in London as the European headquarters of the company in 1999. [12] Other subsidiaries have been established globally. [13]
Hitachi markets a general-purpose train known as the "A-train", which uses double-skin, friction-stir-welded aluminium body construction. [14] Hitachi's products have included the designing and manufacturing of many Shinkansen models, including the N700 Series Shinkansen. [14]
On February 24, 2015, Hitachi agreed to purchase the Italian rolling stock manufacturer Ansaldo Breda and acquire Finmeccanica's stake in Ansaldo STS, the railway signaling division of Finmeccanica [15] The purchase was completed later that year, [16] at which point the company was renamed as Hitachi Rail Italy. Since then, Hitachi has obtained a majority stake in Ansaldo STS. [17]
In July 2020, Hitachi signed an exclusive agreement with Hyperdrive, a UK-based lithium-ion battery company, to bring battery-powered trains to the country. [18]
Late in 2021, Alstom announced the transfer of business relating to Bombardier Zefiro 300 to Hitachi Rail, as a condition of Alstom's acquisition of Bombardier put in place by the European Commission in order to remain compliant with EU competition law. [19] [20] The transaction was completed on 1 July 2022. [21]
In late 2022, Hitachi Rail won the contract to supply train sets for the Ontario Line being planned in Toronto, Canada. [22]
In 2024, Hitachi Rail and MERMEC signed a put option agreement for the sale of Hitachi Rail’s main line signalling business in France and its signalling business units in Germany and the UK. [23]
In May 2024, Hitachi Rail completed the acquisition of Thales Group's Ground Transportation Systems for €1.66 billion. This move will help expand its global presence in the rail sector to 51 countries. [24]
In July 2024, Hitachi Rail won the contract to supply new M-5 trainsets for the SEPTA Metro's Market–Frankford Line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. [25]
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest, and standing passengers to lose their balance. In such excessive speeds, it could even cause the train to derail. Tilting trains are designed to counteract this by tilting the carriages towards the inside of the curve, thus compensating for the g-force. The train may be constructed such that inertial forces cause the tilting, or it may have a computer-controlled powered mechanism.
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional and urban trains along with trams.
Adtranz was a multi-national rail transportation equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the US. The company, legally known as ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation, was created in 1996 as a joint venture between ABB and Daimler-Benz to combine their rail equipment manufacturing operations. In 1999, DaimlerChrysler bought ABB's shares and changed the company's official name to DaimlerChrysler Rail Systems. The company was acquired by Bombardier in 2001, which merged it into its Bombardier Transportation division, which became the largest rail equipment manufacturer in the world at the time, and was ultimately acquired by Alstom in 2021.
Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. was a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the deal was finalized, the current name was adapted in November 2015 to reflect the new ownership.
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Bombardier Transportation had many regional offices, production and development facilities worldwide. It produced a wide range of products including passenger rail vehicles, locomotives, bogies, propulsion and controls. In February 2020, the company had 36,000 employees, and 63 manufacturing and engineering locations around the world. Formerly a division of Bombardier Inc., the company was acquired by French manufacturer Alstom on 29 January 2021.
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in March 1843, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s much of the engineering works were closed. Most of the site has been redeveloped, but the remaining parts are owned and operated by Alstom.
Union Switch & Signal was an American company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which focused on railway signaling equipment, systems and services. The company was acquired by Ansaldo STS in 1988, operating as a wholly-owned company until January 2009, when US&S was renamed "Ansaldo STS USA" to operate as a subsidiary of Ansaldo in the Americas and Asia.
CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer and a division of the CRRC. While the CRV emerged in 2002, the company's roots date back to the establishment of the Changchun Car Company in 1954. The company became a division of CNR Corporation before its merger with CSR to form the present CRRC. It has produced a variety of rolling stock for customers in China and abroad, including locomotives, passenger cars, multiple units, rapid transit and light rail vehicles. It has established technology transfer partnerships with several foreign railcar manufacturers, including Bombardier Transportation, Alstom, and Siemens Mobility.
CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong province. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China.
The Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing Company is the Japanese rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since beginning operations in 1906, the company has produced more than 90,000 railroad cars.
The Hitachi A-train is a family of rail rolling stock built and designed by Hitachi Rail using a common base and construction techniques. The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture, increased energy efficiency, and recyclability.
Hitachi Rail STS SpA or Hitachi Rail STS is an Italian transportation company owned by Hitachi with a global presence in the field of railway signalling and integrated transport systems for passenger traffic and freight operations. Hitachi Rail STS plans, designs, manufactures, installs and commissions signaling systems, components and technologies for the management and control of newly built or upgraded railways, transit and freight lines worldwide.
The SCMaglev and Railway Park is a railway museum owned by the Central Japan Railway Company in Nagoya, Japan. The museum opened on 14 March 2011.
Zefiro is a family of high-speed passenger trains designed by Bombardier Transportation whose variants have top operating speeds of between 250 km/h (155 mph); 380 km/h (240 mph) and 400 km/h (250 mph).
The Frecciarossa 1000 is a high-speed train operated by Italian state railway operator Trenitalia and the private Spanish high-speed rail operator Iryo. It was co-developed as a joint venture between Italian rail manufacturer Hitachi Rail Italy and multinational conglomerate Alstom. Both design and production work were divided between the two partner companies.
Hexie, also known as the CRH series EMU, is an umbrella term for the multiple unit high-speed and higher-speed trains operated by China Railway under the China Railway High-speed brand. All series of Hexie are based on foreign-developed technology and later manufactured locally in China through technology transfer licenses, with the ultimate goal of China acquiring the know-how and capability to produce high-speed rail trains.
The HS2 rolling stock are trains for the under-construction High Speed 2 (HS2) high-speed rail line in the United Kingdom.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)