TAIWAN: Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and the Hitachi Toshiba Supreme Consortium have signed an agreement for the detailed interior design of the 12 Series N700S high speed trainsets, which were ordered in May 2023 at a cost of NT$28bn. The agreement signed on March 17 finalised the trains’ interior, allowing production to start.
Facilities added to the trains’ interior include ‘charging equipment’ and a more advanced shock absorber and noise reduction system that are used on the similar models in service in Japan.
Sinks, coat hooks and baby seats in the nursery rooms have been redesigned. The number of wheelchair spaces has been increased to six and wheelchair securing equipment added.
The new trainsets are ordered to meet the growing demand and reduce maintenance. They are to augment the Series 700T sets that have been used since services inaugurated in 2007. THSRC has been seeking to order the 12 trainsets since 2019, with two previous tenders cancelled.
Deliveries are expected to start in the second half of 2026 with the trains entering revenue service in the second half of 2027.
