26 August, 2007

OLYMPIC 'BULLET' TRAIN ARRIVES IN THE UK: The first of a new generation of high speed trains for the 2012 Olympic Games arrives in the UK on board a Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics' ship

26 August 2007, Southampton - Fast and easy access to the London Olympic Games at Stratford, London in 2012 will now be possible, thanks to the expertise of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and Hitachi Europe who have safely delivered the UK’s first bullet train to the UK.

Two years of intensive logistics planning came to fruition over the weekend (24-26 August, 2007) when the first of 29 striking blue Class 395 High Speed trains† built by Hitachi for rail operator Southeastern were delicately rolled off Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics’ 67,140 GRT MV Tarago in Southampton after a six week, 10,760 voyage from Kobe in Japan to Southampton.

The bullet train, the first ever to arrive in Britain and the first to be shipped using a single logistics provider, will be joined by 29 others on the Southeastern Railways High Speed 1 line between Ashford, Kent, South East England, and London’s newly refurbished St Pancras terminal and the Kent Coast.

Travelling up to speeds of 225 kmph (140 mph) the trains will enter service in December 2009 and play a key role in ensuring a journey time of just seven minutes from St Pancras to the London Olympic Games at Stratford in 2012.

With the help of Hitachi Europe, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has been involved in the total supply chain logistics from the Hitachi factory in Kasado via Kobe to Southampton and thence to its base in Ashford in Kent, South East England where it will begin testing on the rail network in October 2007.

Each carriage was stowed on board MV Tarago in Kobe on its own rail bogies which were then lashed on to two rubber tyre bogies specially designed by WWL to accommodate each rail carriage.

The unloading operation from MV Tarago was a delicate and complex one. It took four hours to painstakingly roll each of the first six carriages of the train – made up of two driving pantograph trailers and four motor saloons – off MV Tarago.

Once rolled off the vessel, each carriage was then meticulously lifted from the rubber tyre bogies onto the tracks. This was achieved by the use of two mammoth cranes – one situated at each end of the carriage.

Each of the carriages was then pushed together by a tug master to form it into a complete train before being carefully rolled away under cover for safe keeping.

The train will then be rail hauled to a new-purpose-built maintenance facility in Ashford, Kent for commissioning prior to night-time testing starting on the mainline network in early October 2007.

Mark Bookham, Head of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Southampton, said: 'The management of the train’s shipment required detailed team planning every step of the way. Our operational skills were really put to the test in being able to deliver this train safely, on time, to budget and in an environmentally-friendly way for Hitachi.'

By the end of the year four more of the six-car trains are due to arrive in Southampton, while the remaining 25 trains to complete the order will be delivered in 2009.

†Dimensions: Weight: 268.5 tonnes, Length: 213 metres (398 ft), Width: 2.81 metres (9ft 2ins), and Height: 3.81 metres (12ft 6ins).

For more information see: www.2wglobal.com and  www.hitachi-eu.com