jobs exported to japan...

[oldcro]

If the City financiers invested in engineering instead of paying themselves £billions in bonuses, maybe we could compete and even beat the rest of the world. Instead they seem to go for short term gains instead of long term profits.
Buying and selling shares moves money around, making things adds to the wealth of the country.

 

[grober]

When you read the background Hitachi has in the development of the
Shinkansen trains http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen and its engineering background in the field http://www.hitachi-rail.com/products/rv/high_speed/index.html then it was almost inevitable that this would happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_395
Had there been the political will to continue with the ill-fated ATP and high speed networks in the 70s/80s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Passenger_Train then British companies might still be in a position to compete in this area but I think its 25 years too late.

 

[crockers]

And we are all driving ------------- German cars.

Mine's South African..................

 

[crockers]

Most of us work abroad already and I agree it's time for some investment in UK Manufacturing, I'll give you the heads up on another one keep your eyes on the news between now and the end of March because another big UK Manufacturer is about to pull the plug completely in the UK and relocate.... where to.... Japan? China? Asia? No......... GERMANY. This one will come as a major shock let me tell you.

A lot of people around here are betting that Honda WONT reopen again in June........not saying the Company you are mentioning is Honda - ..

 

[grober]

Mine's South African..................

Yup you got me - but I bet it didn't mention that in the glossy sales brochure.

 

[Satch]

In case anybody had not noticed, Hitachi are supplying 29 Class 395 (Javelin) trains for South Eastern and have already built a depot in Ashford. These will be in service by December 2009

ALL of these trains are being built in Japan and shipped to the UK.

They were not chosen by accident, rather the end result of a huge process by South Eastern trains, DfT, Network Rail and SNCF, and will vastly improve the North Kent rail service.

To put it bluntly, Hitachi Rail make the best and most reliable trains in the world. Others do not.

http://www.hitachi-rail.com/products/rv/a_train/index.html

 

[verytalldave]

And we are all driving ------------- German cars.

So name me an equivalent/similar British car then and I will buy one. And please dont say Jaguar, because that is NOT an equivalent.

 

[flango]

So name me an equivalent/similar British car then and I will buy one. And please dont say Jaguar, because that is NOT an equivalent.

And it's not British Is there such a thing as a british car anymore? certainly can't think of a volume manufacturer that is, one or two of the specialists maybe Morgan?

 

[Sp!ke]

Lets hope they are not too fast for our rickety old tracks.

 

[oldcro]

And it's not British Is there such a thing as a british car anymore? certainly can't think of a volume manufacturer that is, one or two of the specialists maybe Morgan?

BRISTOL?

a quote from the Bristol web site on their Fighter T model

A potential maximum speed of more than 270 mph has been electronically limited to a more than sufficient 225 mph at only 4500 rpm.

0 to 60 mph takes less than 3.5 seconds.

Now that's some car.

 

[Howard]

Looks like a bucket of sick though

 

[oldcro]

Looks like a bucket of sick though

What on earth have you been eating?

 

[scotth_uk]

I'm all for the recovery of the UK, but buying trains from Japan is extremely sensible. Dealing with Japanese companies will be a pleasure compared to dealing with British ones. The trains may arrive in the right year, for the right price and actually work. ;-)

 

[verytalldave]

BRISTOL?

a quote from the Bristol web site on their Fighter T model

A potential maximum speed of more than 270 mph has been electronically limited to a more than sufficient 225 mph at only 4500 rpm.

0 to 60 mph takes less than 3.5 seconds.

Now that's some car.

...............and a rather nice looking one as well.......

 

[st4]

If the City financiers invested in engineering instead of paying themselves £billions in bonuses, maybe we could compete and even beat the rest of the world. Instead they seem to go for short term gains instead of long term profits.
Buying and selling shares moves money around, making things adds to the wealth of the country.

Nicely put.

TBH the gains the new trains have over the 125's aren't that high, and TBH we'd have been better keeping them a bit longer and investing to make the trains made over here of an equal or better quality.

There is a lack of investment into making real things and indeed a lack of making real things and this government has just done exactly that. Rather than prop up failing banks, investing in British industries would have been far better for the long term.

 

[kelvyn]

As I understood it Bombardier were to be part of a consortium which incuded Siemens and in fact they (Bombardier) were to be the junior partner with Siemens getting the lions share of the contract.
As a contracting design engineer I am currently working in Derby at Bombardier, the design teams on all current projects are quite small, but we all work hard to make what we hope will be solid reliable trains.
Lets also not forget that Bombardier is the only train manufacturer left in England, once its gone there will NEVER be another, it will just be another victim of our current goverments apparent desire to kill of manufacturing industries in this country.