HITACHI, Japan's only total systems integrator for railway systems and services, is making a determined bid to break into the European market, first for trains but also with ambitions to supply traffic management and signalling systems, communications, and maintenance facilities.

Hitachi presented the A-Train, which it is promoting in Europe, as responding to growing demands for a safe, environmentally-friendly train that is quieter, more comfortable, and more cost-effective than conventional systems. The company is focusing its campaign on Britain, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

Special features of the A-Train include a frameless aluminium double-skin body, a self-supported interior module, and a mounting rail with an extrusion structure to form a single unit, enabling a much simpler fastening of the module to the mounting rail. The body is 30% lighter than an equivalent stainless steel body.

Friction stir welding is used to produce a high-precision car body that is sleeker in appearance than conventional trains. Friction stir welding is used instead of fusion welding as recommended in the Uff Cullen Report on the inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail tragedy in Britain.

According to Mr Takazumi Ishizu, managing officer of Hitachi's transport systems division, the modular concept approach enables shorter production lead times, easier refurbishment, and better residual values, "It is also superior to conventional trains in terms of recyclability due to the use of aluminium and its module-to-mounting rail structure, which can easily be dismantled," he said.