This year, Knorr-Bremse was honored by being presented with the Hitachi Rail Best Contribution to Value Generation Award for the supply and support of systems to Hitachi Rail for its global rail project applications.
The Award was accepted on behalf of Knorr-Bremse by Dr. Jonathan Paddison, Senior Vice President Sales & Systems Rail Systems. The awards are only given to the very top performing suppliers of Hitachi Rail, from among the hundreds supplying the organization’s facilities in Italy, the UK and Japan. The Hitachi Rail Supplier Award recognizes suppliers who have made a significant contribution to the success of Hitachi Rail vehicle projects through delivering outstanding support, technology, delivery and quality.
Knorr-Bremse is now a major supplier of systems for the new Hitachi Rail trains being produced in Europe. In Italy, Hitachi Rail Italy is building 300 double-decker trains at its facilities at Pistoia, Naples and Reggio Calabria. The trains will run on regional routes and be operated by Trenitalia and are all equipped with Knorr-Bremse braking technology. The support given by Knorr-Bremse to this development is quoted as one of the main motivations for the award. In the UK, Hitachi Rail Europe is building new fleets of intercity trains at their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The new intercity trains will operate on the UK’s long-distance routes, including the Great Western and East Coast Main Lines.