Euro-Shinkansen idea

[D.S. Lewith]

Back in 2015, Hitachi Rail had acquired AnsaldoBreda, renaming it Hitachi Rail Italy. Concerning the topic of high speed rail, Hitachi had introduced the concept of the AT400, a Shinkansen train adapted for the European market, alongside the AT100, AT200 and AT300. Currently the AT400 is a concept but with Hitachi having acquired a company that manufactures high speed trains for Europe, the idea of a Euro-Shinkansen train (call it I Series Shinkansen (I standing for Italy as it's manufactured by Hitachi Rail Italy)) could one day become a reality. Such a train, however, would likely incorporate features from the ETR 1000 and its parent design Zefiro (thus making it likely to be jointly built between Hitachi Rail Italy and Bombardier).

In terms of operators, Trenitalia would be obvious as this is built in Italy. Eurostar can also procure a fleet of Euro-Shinkansen trains to replace its ageing e300s (formerly dubbed BR Class 373 and TGV TMST).