Hitachi Ltd, maker of the 186 miles per hour (300 kph) Bullet Train, will bid against the French-built TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, French for high-speed train) on its home soil, as the Japanese company targets a European rail market that’s the biggest in the world.
Hitachi, whose high-speed train sales in the region have been limited to the UK, will offer the latest Shinkansen-series model to replace TGVs run by French state rail operator SNCF and built by Paris-based Alstom SA, said Mac Motraghi, head of sales at the Asian company’s European rail unit.
“We’re having informal discussions,” Motraghi said in an interview at Tokyo-based Hitachi’s depot in Ashford, England, where it services Javelin high-speed commuter units. “The French market has always been Alstom and perhaps our chances of winning there are not that great, but to be a serious rail player in Europe you have to get involved.”
Prospects for sales in France may be helped by concerns at SNCF about the cost of new rolling stock, the executive said, adding that the French company is expected to issue a request for bids next year. Hitachi will also compete for German orders to replace older versions of the ICE high-speed model made by Munich-based Siemens AG, Europe’s biggest engineering company.
“It’s out, now, that Hitachi are active here and we get approached by the train operating companies,” Motraghi said. “We see high speed expanding throughout Europe and we want to be a part of that. I think it’s very realistic.”
SNCF, or Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais, may issue a tender for a new generation of high-speed trains as early as next year, with the contract open to bids from any supplier, spokesman Philippe Mirville said by telephone. The company has more than 300 TGVs and 83 awaiting delivery.
Alstom said Hitachi may find it tough to penetrate a European market that’s complicated by the variety of railway systems and requirements for cross-border running.
“The Japanese industry is a very serious one and their ability and technology isn’t in doubt, but they will face some difficulties,” Jean-Noël Debroise, product-strategy manager at Alstom’s Transportation unit, said in a telephone interview. “We know the customer better than them.”
