Italian flavour to Hitachi Rail plant in Miami

(AGI) Houston, Mar 17 - Italy is closely involved in the new Hitachi Rail plant in Miami, Florida, where 136 carriages will be produced over the next two years for the city's new underground railway. The Italian influence is clear "because we won this contract before the Japanese buyout and so it still bears the fruit of the pre-Hitachi company," said CEO of Hitachi Rail Italy Maurizio Manfellotto, approached by AGI on the occasion of the factory's opening. The former AnsaldoBreda won the 300-million-dollar order, "and Hitachi obviously considered this an important part of the market potential in its strategic choices," said Manfellotto, noting that the industry in the U.S. has been showing signs of recovery "for some years, in terms of quantities and our expectations - and they are continuing to grow." In addition to this order, "next week we are about to deliver the first two trains for the underground railway in Honolulu, Hawaii: an automatic driverless underground system. It is important because it is a very modern and innovative project and Hawaii is the first U.S. state to adopt a driverless underground railway." The product "is particularly interesting where you need to build new underground systems because the absence of the driver allows for extreme elasticity, also with respect to staff needs. You can calibrate the number of trains required depending on the load times, peak or not, by increasing or decreasing the running," he continued, adding that 10 of the 30 driverless trains in the world have been built by Hitachi with Ansaldo STS, of which the Japanese group should control 40 percent after the tender offer currently subject to an inquiry in Italy. (AGI). .