A high-speed train produced by the Japanese electronics maker Hitachi began operating in Britain on Monday. Designers used technology from Japan’s bullet trains in the construction of the carriages.

The train line links London and Wales, a distance of 300-kilometers. It’s part of a project worth more than 7 billion dollars to replace Britain’s fleet of aging trains on lines connecting major cities. Hitachi has been commissioned to make 866 carriages for the project.

The new train will travel at a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour and has noise reduction technology.
Most of the carriages will be produced in Britain.

Hitachi is one of hundreds of firms affected by a data-falsification scandal that has engulfed Kobe Steel. Some of the carriages of the new train consist of products from the steel maker. But Hitachi says it has checked them thoroughly and found no safety problems. NHK