Hitachiballs: Trading standards...

This from Howard Wade...

Reacting to today’s news that the government is to build a dedicated further education college to train the next generation of train engineers for HS2, Alistair Dormer, Hitachi Rail Europe's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are very pleased the government recognises the importance of good infrastructure. Hitachi Rail Europe is investing in Britain’s future through a new factory at Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham, which will employ 730 people building trains for the home and export market with Made in Britain stamped on them."

Where will this proud claim be 'stamped', we wonder?

No doubt some journalist with an inconveniently long memory will ask to be shown the precise location?

Hitachiballs - East Coast IEP contract signed!

Good news for fans of 'British built' trains!

This from Hitachi...

Hitachi Rail Europe Signs Contract with Merchant Place Developments for Construction of New UK Train Factory

NEWTON AYCLIFFE, May 14, 2013 – Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. today announced that it has signed the contract with Merchant Place Developments for the construction and fit-out of a rolling stock manufacturing plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, UK. Merchant Place Developments therefore have now gone from preferred bidder status to full contract award.

The contract paves the way for the construction of Hitachi’s first train factory in Europe, which represents an investment of £82 million to create its state-of-the-art manufacturing hub in the North East of England. Hitachi Rail Europe receives a £4 million grant by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to support the build of the factory...

The factory will initially be used to build the Super Express Trains for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line, with the potential to be used for other orders such as building Crossrail rolling stock in the facility, should Hitachi Rail Europe be the successful bidder. Hitachi places great emphasis on employing locally where possible and the factory will create long-term employment for 730 people. This figure includes a Research & Development department. It is expected that 200 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the factory. 

Good news indeed!

But what's this?

The release continues...

"The decision to build a manufacturing plant was taken after Hitachi Rail Europe won the contract with the Department for Transport (DfT) to replace the ageing fleet of diesel-powered Intercity trains currently running on the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line. The contract with the DfT was signed in July 2012."

Errr....

What contract to replace 'ageing' diesels on the East Coast Main Line?

Perhaps DfT might care to share?

UPDATE: This from the East Coast High Panjandrum...

The DfT's contract with Hitachi does indeed see the replacement of the HSTs with IEPs.

Of course the issue under debate is what happens with Phase 2 - replacing the 225 fleet or not.

UPDATE: This from Captain Deltic...

There seems to be some confusion over IEP contracts. 

This is not surprising, given the byzantine structure created by DfT to replace IC125.

Here is an extract from the Janet & John guide to Today's Railway:

• DfT has signed a total train service provision contract with Agility Trains to replace IC125 sets on Great Western and East Coast.

• Agility trains is led by Hitachi which will supply the Super Express Trains and depots and maintain the fleet for the next 27.5 years.

• Where the confusion arises is that the two fleets are being replaced separately through separate subsidiaries of Agility Trains, each of which will have contracts with a train operator.

• Agility Trains West is responsible for the Great Western fleet and has reached financial close.

• Agility Trains East will provide the East Coast replacement fleet and this deal has yet to reach financial close. 

There is an option in this contract  to replace the EC IC225 fleet with IEP. DfT was due to have appointed a financial advisor to monitor this deal last month. 
 
Meanwhile, can I commend Nigel Harris' editorial in the latest RAIL on this very subject?

Hitachiballs - The IEP's 'green' credentials

This from Ithuriel...

Quoted in the Greenwise Weekly e-Newsletter

"One of the things that our trains will do is they will use less energy per feet than existing trains, because they’re lighter," said Hitachi Europe spokeswoman Daniela Karthaus.

"We will also have more capacity on the trains, so more passengers can travel on them, so that is going to be an environmental benefit."

Karthaus said the lighter trains will lessen the amount of material used in repairs as well.

"They will do very little damage to the tracks because they are lighter, which in turn means less replacement of tracks, which makes them hopefully more sustainable," she said.

But, even Captain Deltic's uncharacteristically uncritical review of the Hitachi SET in the latest Modern Railways has to concede that the five car bi-mode - which represents 70% of the proposed fleet - weighs 800kg per seat compared with only 730kg per seat for the IC125 it is supposed to replace.

Or, to put it another way, the super lightweight train extolled by Ms Karthaus weighs the same as a Voyager or Adelante which are generally regarded as heavy and not exactly track friendly, compared with, say, a Class 158.

UPDATE: This from Leo Pink...

Ithuriel is unkind to Meridians.

They may be heavy but, according to Bombardier, based on current variable track access charges a Meridian causes 10% less track damage than an IC125, 25% less than a Pendolino and 35% less than an IC225.

UPDATE: This from the tediously self promoting Captain Deltic...

This low track wear must be attributed in large part to the Meridian's inside frame FLEXX Eco bogie.

An article on the history of this bogie from its conception by British Rail Research to its selection for DB's new ICx train appears in this month's Informed... (Boring, boring, boring - next please. Ed)

Hitachiballs - On opening up Japanese markets

Regular Eye readers will recall that UNIFE reacted with fury to Petrol-head's decision to award the IEP contract to Hitachi.

In particular the Euro rail group pointed out that:

Thanks to clear and transparent public procurement rules transport-related tenders in Europe are largely open to foreign companies, while the Japanese market remains completely inaccessible to European rolling stock suppliers. Indeed, only 2% of the Japanese rail equipment market is opened to foreign suppliers. This de facto market closure is achieved through the extensive use of the so-called “Operational Safety Clause” by which foreign bidders are brutally excluded.

Happily, Hitachi addressed these concerns head-on yesterday when it issued the following inscrutable statement:

UNIFE should not be so alarmed (in reference to its statement dated 3 March 2011) by the British Government’s award of the IEP (Intercity Express Programme) contract to Hitachi...

Hitachi believes in free market access between Europe and Japan in the rail industry and other sectors. We respect our European competitors, but we also think we have something unique to contribute to Europe. Hitachi Rail Europe is a European company led by Europeans, and Europe will gain, economically and competitively, from having a new quality player in the market.

So that's all right then!

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

So can we expect to see Hitachi inviting bids from European suppliers to fit out its trains for Japanese railway companies? (No, don't be silly! Ed)

UPDATE: This from @Battlerb, via Twitter...

You may (or not) know that the biggest brake supplier for Shinkansen is Knorr Bremse from Europe.

Hitachiballs: Rising Sun flies over Derby?

Telegrammed by Howard Wade
This from the Northern Echo on the 13th January...

THE Japanese government yesterday lobbied ministers to urge them not to reject Hitachi’s £7.5bn plans to bring train building back to the region.

Shin Ebihara, the country’s ambassador to the UK, requested the meeting with Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, as one of his last acts before leaving the post.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Yutaka Banno, Japan’s Foreign Secretary, is also attempting to secure talks at the Department for Transport (Dft), when he arrives in Britain next week.

The powerful twin-pronged lobbying operation underlines the huge importance of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to the world’s third-biggest economy – as well as to the North-East.

Neil Foster, Northern TUC campaigns officer, said: “Why hasn’t the Government yet committed to the Agility consortium, which would create 800 direct and 7,500 indirect British jobs? Why are they considering an off-theshelf option overseas?”

Diesel locomotives are made in Germany and the US, while most electric trains are manufactured in Germany, France and Spain, although some are made in Derby by Bombardier.

Presumably the East Midlands TUC Campaigns Officer is asleep?

Is Bombardier's Management unable to see any problem in a foreign train manufacturer whose home market is protected from international competition lobbying to put Derby Litchurch Lane out of business?

And, Hello!, is anyone awake at the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum?

Why aren't East Midlands MPs being primed to defend skilled local manufacturing jobs in Derby with the same vim and vigour as North Eastern MPs push for unskilled assembly roles on their patch?

No doubt the Hon Members for Derby and Derbyshire will become highly vocal once it is all too late and the closure notice is posted on the gates of Litchurch Lane!

Meanwhile our ever cost conscious Government must be absolutely delighted by Hitachi's insistence that it should receive a £15 million bung towards the cost of a new assembly plant in the North East?

As for the TUC's lobbying, even Tokyo Rose knew that you needed a modicum of accuracy to make propaganda convincing.

Apart from 'some' electric trains being built at Derby (actually about 5 vehicles a week at present) roughly 20% of the content-by-value of the new Pendolinos is being manufactured at Preston, Lancs. This is high added value traction equipment, not a mere spanner and screwdriver fitting-out job which apparently Foster San thinks more important than the real high tech British design and manufacturing jobs which could be lost.

Would any politician or civil servant recognise the long term value of an industrial strategy?

That is, of course, a rhetorical question.

UPDATE: This from a Mr Reginald Slicker

You do the hard pressed British rail traveller no favours with your jingoistic attempts to stem the tide of international trade and keep the Derby factory manufacturing trains when superior products are available from abroad.

If you had your way, passengers on South Eastern's high speed services would not be travelling in the lightest trains in Britain with better reliability and availability figures way exceeding that achieved by European manufacturers.

I remain, Sir, R Slicker

Hitachiballs - Japanese crackers

This from Invicta...

Alistair Dormer, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, in today's Northern Echo, said that the manufacturer had nearly five decades’ experience in building high-speed trains in Japan, where some areas regularly saw severe weather during the winter.

He said: “The Hitachi Class 395, which runs between London St Pancras and the Kent coast, has performed exceptionally well in all weather conditions, on all routes, while other trains have been unable to operate. We have not let passengers down and have continued to deliver a reliable service.”

Hmm. Even though only 22 of of the 29 class 395s are diagrammed for weekday service, Ashford Depot has struggled to get a full allocation out, sometimes with at least one cancellation in the morning due to lack of available stock.

And between the peaks 10 of the Class 395s sit around at various locations having a breather...

So getting 40% of your fleet to work all day can't be all that demanding.

Meanwhile, how have the "other trains" managed? Those that according to Mr Dormer "have been unable to operate".

Well, on 22 December SouthEastern's hard working engineers put out 99 out of 112 Class 375 units - that's 88% availability compared with the usual 91%. The shortfall was largely down to units stuck in the snow...

That compares with 76% for the Class 395 fleet on a good day.

Hitachiballs - Phil Wilson MP

This from the Honourable Member for Sedgefield yesterday...

The Hitachi trains are bimodal, which means that they can switch from diesel to electric and vice versa when the need arises. Southeastern operates such Hitachi high speed trains, which have an excellent record in the current bad weather. That is a ringing endorsement of the technology and work force.

No Phil. SouthEastern does not.

The Javelins are not bi-modes, they are dual voltage.

And as their current reliability is little better that the Golden Spanner winning BR built EMU's its perhaps not that much to shout about!

Evidently a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

Not only is Phil Wilson MP technologically challenged, he seems to have a very selective memory when it comes to investment in the North East.

On 21 December he also told the House of Commons:

"Hitachi's investment would be the biggest investment in the north-east of England since Nissan back in the 1980s".

Clearly the small matter of Siemens' £1 billion silicon chip factory on Tyneside skipped his mind.

Here's a reminder, Phil, it was opened by HM the Queen in 1997 and closed two years later, with the loss of 1100 jobs, when the price of the DRAM chips it was set up to make dropped from $50 each to under $5.

Korean competition was blamed.

Hitachiballs - the lobbying continues

Telegrammed by Ithuriel
This from the Newcastle Journal...

BUILDING a fleet of new Intercity trains in the North East will save the country more than £100m rather than buying them from abroad, a new report argued yesterday.

Analysis by the Northern TUC shows that taxpayers would save substantial sums if ministers finally give the go-ahead for a train assembly plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

The report comes as Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond prepares to announce in the New Year whether the proposals, put forward by Hitachi, will get the go-ahead.

There are also fears among some campaigners that ministers may decide to buy trains from overseas, despite that option not creating a single British job.

The research by the Northern TUC shows that more than £106m a year would be generated through the creation of 800 direct jobs at the County Durham plant along with 7,500 supply chain jobs.

And for every £27,000 salaried job created, the taxpayer gains by £13,000 as a result of reduced benefit payments and the increased taxes paid by people in work.

The Northern TUC is now urging the Government to take into account the full benefits of creating new manufacturing jobs in the North East when making its final decision about the Intercity Express Programme (IEP).

Where to start in demolishing this farrago of nonsense.

Well, first, the trains would be 'bought from abroad' and simply assembled in the UK.

So the 800 direct jobs is out by at least a factor of four.

And, if the factory was to have a future beyond IEP Hitachi would have to win Crossrail, so the creation of flat pack assembly jobs in the North East might have to be offset against the loss of skilled engineering and train building jobs at Derby.

And if the alternative to IEP is a conventional EMU the suppliers would be, in alphabetical order Alstom - up to 30% UK content including traction equipment, Bombardier - trains built at Derby
or Siemens.

Odd, while this sort of lobbying is going on that the European train builders keep schtumm.

Perhaps they see the UK market as Hitachi's tar baby?

Or perhaps they are more concerned about the Chinese and Korean threats to their heartland markets?