Óscar Puente visits Hitachi Rail's plant in Italy to accelerate the implementation of 350 km/h high-speed railways

In Pistoia, near Florence, the minister visited the production plant of the Hitachi Rail company, which manufactures high-speed, hybrid-electric, regional and suburban trains.

Accompanied by Renfe representatives, the minister toured the 290,000 square metre plant facilities, focusing on the manufacturing of the ETR1000 model, a high-speed train that operates in different European countries, including Spain, and which can be adapted to different voltages and signalling standards.

The Hitachi Rail plant in Pistoia is the head office of the Japanese company in Italy. A locomotive workshop since 1905, it was acquired by Hitachi in 2015 to assemble, test and deliver medium- and high-end regional, intercity, metro and high-speed trains with its 1,800 employees. The plant has several assembly lines, and is involved in high-speed train programmes for Trenitalia and production for foreign customers. It is also involved in several projects with Renfe concerning innovation in the field of sustainability in the railway sector.

The institutional visit is part of the intense agenda that the minister is keeping in several countries, the last of them China, to know first-hand the latest advances in R&D in the railway sector and to evaluate its introduction in the Spanish high-speed railway, which is looking for suitable rolling stock to make the leap to the 350 km/h.

Non official translation