Page 2 - Intercity Express Programme News Today

New fleets have been criticised for uncomfortable seats. Is a lack of padding due fire safety and crashworthiness standards or DfT cost control?

RICHARD CLINNICK visits Hitachi’s new facility at Newton Aycliffe, where local skills both old and new are helping to revive the area’s prospects.

Express services across two of Britain's busiest rail lines were subject to mass cancellations earlier this month

Holiday plans hit as Hitachi train crisis lasts for weeks Great Western Railway forced to run a reduced service for several weeks while each train is tested after cracks were found   A Hitachi train operated by GWR  Chaos on the railways sparked by cracks found on Hitachi trains will continue for weeks, potentially disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.  Great Western Railway, which serves Cornwall, Devon and Wales from London, will be forced to run a reduced “core” service...

How Hitachis plan to replace Britains train fleet went off the rails The cracks discovered on the Japanese companys Azuma trains are the latest in a litany of problems 11 May 2021 • 6:23pm Chris Grayling was not afraid to heap praise on Japanese conglomerate Hitachi as the inaugural InterCity Express service prepared to leave Bristol Temple Meads station. Glossing over the fact that water was pouring out of air conditioning units onto his fellow passengers, the Transport Secretary proclaimed:...

Watershed moment for train building in the North East as Hitachi Rail starts welding new passenger trains at its factory in the Sedgefield constituency. Total of £110million invested in state-of-the-art train building factory, following an extra £8.5million spent creating bespoke welding and painting facilities on site. 40 new roles and extensive upskilling of staff is further evidence of Hitachi Rail’s long-term commitment to the UK. The expansion of manufacturing capabilities makes...

Apprentice welder Callum Crowe working on a train shell at the Weld Workshop, Hitachi Rail, Newton Aycliffe A TRAIN builders investment at its County Durham factory – which now totals £110million – sees new facilities completed, allowing welding and painting to start on brand new UK passenger trains. New welding and painting facilities will be used to build the next generation of intercity trains for East Midlands Railway and Avanti West Coast at Hitachi, in Newton Aycliffe. Around 4...

New generation of high speed trains proposed by Hitachi TEN years ago, this week, it was confirmed that trainbuilding and thousands of desperately needed manufacturing jobs would be brought back to the region where the train was born. After months of frustration and uncertainty, Hitachi’s plans to build a factory and a manufacturing base to serve all of Europe at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was given the go-ahead, to universal delight. The £4.5bn Intercity Express Programme (IEP) d...

Ruth Hannant Biography Ruth Hannant and Polly Payne became Directors General for Rail Strategy and Services Group at the Department for Transport ( DfT) as a job-share in December 2017. Prior to Directors of Higher Education Reform at the Department for Education ( DfE) BIS) BIS from Before job-sharing with Polly, Ruth was a Deputy Director in the Shareholder Executive (now UK Government Investments) where she led work on Post Office reform, Royal Mail and Postal Policy, the government�...

Polly Payne Biography Polly Payne and Ruth Hannant became Directors General for Rail Strategy and Services Group at the Department for Transport ( DfT) as a job-share in December 2017. Prior to Directors of Higher Education Reform at the Department for Education ( DfE) BIS) BIS from Before job-sharing with Ruth, Polly worked in HM Treasury for over a decade in a variety of economic and policy roles. Polly previously worked at the University of Sussex, in Mongolia for the Asian Developmen...