Hitachi Rail and Bombardier Transportation have signed an 800 million euro (US$952.68 million) contract to supply trains for a high-speed rail franchise in Spain, the two companies said. The contract was signed with Italian train operator Trenitalia, which will operate the new Intermodalidad de Levante (ILSA) rail operation in a joint venture with Operador Ferroviario de Levante SL.

Hitachi has a 60% stake and Bombardier Transportation 40% in the partnership to supply 23 Frecciarossa 1000 very high speed (VHS) trains. The two jointly developed the Frecciarossa, already widely used in Italy, in close cooperation with Trenitalia. The Frecciarossa 1000 is the fastest and quietest very high speed train in Europe.

The 23 new trains for ILSA will be designed and built by Hitachi Rail and Bombardier in Italy. Each train is approximately 200 metres long with capacity for around 460 passengers and capable of commercial speeds of up to 360 kilometres per hour. The first two sets will be due for delivery in September 2022, with the rest to be delivered by March 2023.

Trenitalia has operated the Frecciarossa 1000 in Italy since 2015, and has 50 sets. Last year Hitachi and Bombardier won a US$647 million order from Trenitalia for 14 train sets. 

The liberalization of Europe’s railways enables ILSA to offer new rail services in Spain. ILSA has been selected by ADIF, which runs Spain’s rail infrastructure, as the first private operator to be granted access to the Spanish rail market. From 2022, ILSA will run high-speed services on the Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Valencia/Alicante and Madrid-Seville/Malaga lines. 

On July 31 the European Commission gave conditional clearance for the proposed acquisition of Bombardier Transportation from its Montreal-based parent company Bombardier by Alstom of France.