THSR 700T - History

History

Taiwan's Bureau of High Speed Rail (BOHSR) started to tender THSR as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme in October 1996. The two competitors were the Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium (THSRC) and the Chunghwa High Speed Rail Consortium (CHSRC). THSRC's bid was based on the high-speed technology platform of Eurotrain, a joint venture of GEC-Alsthom, the main maker of the French TGV, and Siemens, the main maker of the German ICE. CHSRC's bid was based on Japanese Shinkansen technology supplied by Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium (TSC), a joint venture of Japanese companies. THSRC was named preferred bidder in September 1997, then, after being reconstituted as the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), it signed the BOT agreement with BOHSR on July 23, 1998. Following an offer from the Japanese government to provide cheap loans to THSRC if it switches to Shinkansen technology, in spite of an earlier agreement with Eurotrain, THSRC decided to re-tender the core systems technology contract June 1999. THSRC announced on December 28, 1999, that it would negotiate a final contract with TSC. The contract, which included the supply of rolling stock, was signed on December 12, 2000. The controversial awarding was challenged by Eurotrain in courts without success, a further lawsuit for damage payments was successful however.

While TSC's original offer in CHSRC's 1997 bid for the BOT franchise was based on the 500 Series Shinkansen, its bid for THSRC's 1999 tender was based on the newer 700 Series Shinkansen. THSRC maintained its European specifications, thus, the trains had had to be designed for and commissioned according to European specifications, too.

On January 30, 2004, a roll-out ceremony was conducted at Kawasaki Heavy Industries' Hyogo Works. The first train was shipped to Taiwan in May 2004. Running tests started on the THSR high speed line on January 27, 2005, after four months of delays, on the Tainan–Kaohsiung section. During the tests, a national record of 315 km/h (196 mph) was achieved on October 30, 2005. All 30 trains have been delivered to Taiwan by 2006. Commercial operation of the 700T began on January 5, 2007, at a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h (186 mph).

In November 2008, THSRC announced that the company considers ordering an additional six to twelve trains from the Japanese makers for service starting in 2011, in order to cope with increased demand that was expected by that time. In May 2012 an order was placed with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (structural and mechanical parts) and Toshiba (electrical and electromechanical parts) for four 12 car trains, at an estimated cost of 19 billion Japanese yen, the trains are to be delivered between Dec 2012 and 2015 with options for extra sets.