First Six-car MRT Train Completed for Taipei

Tokyo, April 20, 2010 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it completed the first six-car mass rapid transit (MRT) train for Taipei's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS). These MRT cars are the first six of 138 next-generation subway cars ordered by DORTS. The MRT project was awarded in 2007 to the three-company consortium of Kawasaki, Marubeni Corporation and Taipei-based CTCI Corporation.

The MRT cars, made of weather-resistant stainless steel, all have four exterior sliding doors on one side. Powered by electricity (DC 750V) supplied via a third rail, the trains are equipped with the latest insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) inverter controls and have a maximum operating speed of 80 km/h. These new MRT cars featuring the latest in technology and an attractive exterior design are setting a new standard for Taipei's MRT system.

The consortium will supply DORTS with everything from brand new MRT cars to signal, substation, communications and automatic fare collection systems. This brand new package will be part of Taipei's two new MRT routes, the Xinyi Line, which runs from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to Elephant Mountain Stations, and the Songshan Line, which runs from Ximen to Shongshan Stations via Zhongshan Station. As the consortium leader, Kawasaki is not only tasked with supplying the 138 MRT cars and signal system but is responsible for overseeing the entire project. Kawasaki will produce 36 of the new MRT cars at its Hyogo Works and the remaining 96 cars through a Taiwanese partner company under the Japanese government's Industrial Cooperation Program (ICP).

The city of Taipei has been moving steadily ahead with plans to develop an MRT network that goes hand in hand with other urban development projects. Kawasaki delivered 132 first-generation MRT cars to DORTS between 1992 and 1993, and 321 fourth-generation MRT cars between 2005 and 2010. Once all of the 138 cars are delivered to DORTS, 591 cars or 70% of all 843 cars operated by DORTS will be Kawasaki-made, making Kawasaki the leading supplier of DORTS MRT cars.

Kawasaki has delivered more than 4,000 rail cars to overseas markets, primarily in North America and Asia. Kawasaki continues to leverage its outstanding technological capability to boost customer satisfaction with superior rail cars that are taking this environmentally friendly means of transportation to new heights in markets around the world.