MORE details have emerged about a research centre that Hitachi plans to set up in the North-East.
The Japanese engineering company this week opened a European Rail Research Centre at its London offices, and confirmed plans to shift some of the operation to its factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, when it goes into production in 2015.
The £4.5bn contract to make the next generation of intercity trains will create 730 skilled jobs at the Aycliffe plant, a further 200 jobs during construction and thousands in the supply chain.
Confirmation that the firm will also set up a research and development division to support the factory backs Hitachi’s claim to be committed to the North-East.
The centre will work on the design of train carriages, maintenance and traffic management systems.
Kiyoshi Yamamoto, managing director of Hitachi Europe, said: “We expect the European Rail Research Centre to support Hitachi’s railway business in Europe and contribute to the development of railway infrastructure.
“In the future, we’d like to expand the research centre with a local office to directly support Hitachi Rail Europe’s planned manufacturing and assembly plant in the UK.”
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