DfT orders 270 trains from Hitachi joint venture for rail upgrade

Addleshaw Goddard and Hogan Lovells have won work on a major rail deal that has seen the Department for Transport (DfT) place a £1.2bn order for 270 new high-speed trains for the East Coast Main Line.

The DfT last week awarded the contract to Agility Trains, a joint venture between Hitachi Rail Europe and John Laing Investments, as part of its Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to upgrade the UK's rail system.

The carriages will be manufactured at Hitachi's new factory in County Durham, with the deal coming after the DfT last year agreed an initial £4.5bn order with Agility.

Hogan Lovells was appointed to advise the DfT after a tender process, fielding a team led by infrastructure partner Andrew Briggs and banking partner Simon Gwynne. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the DfT on the £4.5bn contract last year. 

Addleshaws is advising Network Rail on the latest deal with a team including legal director Robin Warburton and associate Cornelia Schaffer. Simmons & Simmons advised Network Rail on last year's deal.

Meanwhile, a Shoosmiths team led by relationship partner Chris McClure and real estate partner Joanne McGuinness has retained its role as adviser to Hitachi, while DLA Piper, led by projects partner Colin Wilson, is continuing to advise Agility.

McClure said: "The fact Shoosmiths has been retained for this deal is testament to the confidence Hitachi has in our ability and really cements our relationship."

Wilson added: "The IEP is a real success story for the UK, and at £5.8bn is now the largest public-private partnership rolling stock project anywhere in the world. The DLA Piper team is looking forward to finalising the complex contractual arrangements and innovative financing solution for the second stage of this project."