A Japanese consortium said yesterday that it has won an order for the last major portion of Taiwan's new bullet train project, bringing the total value of its contracts to US$4.6 billion.
The service, expected to start operating between Taipei and Kaohsiung in October 2005, will be the first adoption overseas of Japan's bullet-train system.
"Winning the huge contracts is very bright news to the Japanese industrial world and we strongly hope the success in this project will lead to more exports of railway systems," the seven-member group said in a statement.
The consortium, led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, won the contract for laying 153km of track for NT$29.23 billion (US$850 million), beating Australian, European, and Taiwanese rivals.
The consortium was awarded contracts by Taiwan's High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC,
The remaining five percent, or 16 km, is being built by an Australian consortium.
The deals Japan has signed with THSRC now amount to NT$156.97 billion, including NT$30.70 billion for a contract last year to construct the southern section of the line and another NT$97-billion deal to supply train carriages, signals and other systems.
The Japanese consortium also includes Toshiba Corp, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsui and Co, Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp and Sumitomo Corp.
Taiwan's bullet train is expected to run at speeds of up to 300 kmh, and the project has an estimated cost of about $NT440 billion.
The Japanese team's statement said that winning the contracts "is a result of the evaluation that the Japanese system is superior."
Japan is also vying for a massive contract to build a high-speed railway line from Beijing to Shanghai. That deal is estimated to be worth US$12 billion.
A spokesman at trading house Mitsui said the Taiwan deal would have no bearing on the outcome of bidding for the Chinese project.
"We do not think this will have a favorable impact (on competition for the Beijing-Shanghai link), although it is not certainly negative," he said.
Competition for the Chinese project is extremely fierce, with Japanese, French and German alliances all bidding.
Transrapid International, a German consortium made up of German engineering giants Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, has already notched up one success in the rail business in China.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji
The maglev train literally floats above the track while pushed along by powerful magnets. The Shanghai maglev for the 30-km line is capable of speeds of 430 kmh.
Uncertainty also remains over whether China will actually use the maglev technology or a more conventional system for its long-distance railways.
The possibility of offering technology transfers and financial assistance are also seen as key to winning the race.
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