Taiwan orders 50 inter-city trainsets

TAIWAN: A NT$44·3bn contract for Hitachi to supply 50 12-car inter-city trainsets was signed by Taiwan Railway Administration and its procurement agent Bank of Taiwan on January 15.

The contract covers half of the new trains to be ordered under TRA’s development plan for 2015-24.

The 1 067 mm gauge 25 kV 60 Hz trainsets will have a design speed of 150 km/h and service speed of 140 km/h. They are scheduled to be delivered from Hitachi’s Yamaguchi plant from 2021.

Stadler had also bid for the contract, offering a train based on the Smile platform which has been ordered by Swiss Federal Railways under the EC250 Giruno brand.

• Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corp is to supply electrical equipment for 52 10-car 130 km/h commuter EMUs which TRA ordered from Hyundai Rotem in mid-2018 for entry into service from late 2020.