Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation signed procurement contract for New Generation high speed rolling stock with Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) and Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium (HTSC) signed a New Generation High-Speed Rolling Stock procurement contract in Tokyo, Japan this afternoon. The contract price for the 144 cars is circa 124.091 billion yen. Taiwan's Representative to Japan, Frank  Hsieh (謝長廷), and Political Deputy Minister, Hsiang-Ling Hu (胡湘麟), Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), were also invited to the signing ceremony.

Today's signing ceremony was between Yao-Chung Chiang (江耀宗) , Chairman of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, and Representatives of Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium. Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation’s Board of Directors had passed a resolution in March this year to award the New Generation high speed rolling stock contract to the Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium. After nearly 2 months of intensive coordination, the contract was formally signed today. The New Generation high speed rolling stock will be modelled on Shinkansen’s N700S, which is expected to be delivered progressively from 2026.

In his speech, Chairman Chiang expressed his sincere thanks to all who had provided great support and assistance to THSRC during the procurement process. THSRC’s operational core system is the first successful overseas export of Japan’s Shinkansen.

Since the operation from 2007, the number of passengers transported exceeded 770 million; and it had also recovered rapidly after the end of the epidemic. In April this year, it had achieved a record high of an average of 207,000 passengers per day. The operational performance is excellent and exceeds international standards. This time, the high-speed rolling stock proposed by HTSC, the latest N700S model, will effectively improve THSRC’s transport capacity and provide passengers with even higher quality ride services.

The New Generation rolling stock are expected to be delivered in batches from 2026 and put into revenue operation in 2027. The New Generation rolling stock not only have a more streamlined appearance than the existing 700T trains of THSRC but also have the advantages of light-weight, high performance, energy-saving, and ride comfort qualities. It will also be equipped with 110V charging sockets at every seat, full-color LCD information display, arrival light reminder, two-tier luggage racks and other equipment, which will further contribute to the service quality.

For the future, THSRC will continue to evaluate market trends, plan the fleet size, improve operational efficiency, provide better high-speed rail travel services for passengers, and strive for corporate sustainability.