Following announcements by Alstom and Bombardier / Hitachi that they were submitting bids to design and manufacture the high-speed trains for the UK’s HS2 rail infrastructure project, Siemens Mobility also made public the fact it too had submitted a formal bid for 54 trains for Phase One of the project.
Siemens wanted to highlight its experience in the high-speed sector for both rolling stock and infrastructure. It said its Velaro platform was used in several countries, such as Spain, China, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. For example, the current Eurostar is the Velaro e320, which runs at 320km/h.
The rolling stock manufacturer also wanted to feature its presence in the UK. It said it maintained the “largest installed base of Siemens rolling stock in the world” in the UK.
William Wilson, CEO of Siemens Mobility Ltd, said:
“The submission of our tender to build and maintain trains for HS2 is a huge milestone for our business. Our team has worked tirelessly to develop an offer that transforms how passengers experience high speed trains and set the standard for other global high speed rail systems to follow. I am confident Siemens’ bid will offer HS2 the best combination of value to passengers, taxpayers and the UK economy.
“HS2 has the potential to truly transform connectivity between urban centres and drive significant economic growth and productivity in the UK. We are proud to play a part in helping the UK to develop a world-class high-speed network, and believe our legacy in the UK rail market, technical knowledge and unrivalled global high-speed experience makes us an ideal partner for rolling stock.”
We shall have to wait until spring 2020 to find out which of these industry behemoths gets the winning nod.
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