New high speed trains for Taiwan from Japanese consortium HTSC

The Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium (HTSC), comprising Hitachi, Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation, has been awarded a contract by the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSR) to build 12 new-generation high-speed trains (in total 144 cars). The contract is worth approximately 124 billion JPY (approximately 828 million EUR). HTSC will deliver trains based on the Class N700S Shinkansen, their delivery will begin in 2026.

THSR started operating high-speed trains between Taipei and Kaohsiung in 2007, introducing Class 700T units based on the Shinkansen Class 700 (mostly replaced by newer types in Japan). The new trains will increase passenger capacity and will have a maximum service speed of 300km/h. The new THSR EMUs, based on the Shinkansen N700S, will be lighter and have better aerodynamic performance compared to the existing 700Ts. Better also will be the energy efficiency by utilising the advanced SiC (Silicon Carbide) traction system with a fanless cooling system. Llike the N700S Shinkansen, the new THSR EMUs will have lithium-ion batteries to power the train at low speeds in the event of a power failure (for example in disaster situation).