TOKYO -- In the 150 years since the opening of its first railway, built with British support, Japan has gone from student to master in train technology -- thanks in large part to Hitachi, which is now using the country credited as the birthplace of modern rail as a springboard to the global market.
Hitachi and France's Alstom last year won a contract to supply trains for the U.K.'s High Speed 2, poised to be Europe's fastest railway with top speeds of 360 kilometers per hour. The order is Hitachi's first in Europe for trains capable of traveling at over 300 kph.
