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Hitachi Transportation Systems Wins a USD 333 Million Contract for Urban Transit Monorail System in Daegu Metropolitan City, Korea

2 October 2008

Rendering of proposed train

Hitachi, Ltd., Transportation Systems announced that it has been awarded a new contract to supply the core sub-systems, i.e. monorail vehicles, track switches and signaling system, of the 24 kilometer monorail system that connects the northwestern and southeastern sections of Daegu city. This monorail system will be the first urban transit monorail system to be introduced in Korea. Civil construction will begin in early 2009, and the entire monorail system is scheduled to be ready for commercial operation by end of October 2014.

This Daegu monorail system will be an "Automated Driverless Operation System" and the very first monorail system in the world for the following unique charasteristics and state-of-the-art technologies.

  1. "On-board Fire Fighting System (with application of water mist)" and "Emergency Egress Spiral Chute" will be installed in each train to enhance passenger safety;
  2. Vehicle side windows in passenger compartments will be "Mist Glasses" with liquid crystal screens which will automatically change between "Blind" and "Transparent" mode in order to secure privacy of the residents along the monorail system route alignment; and
  3. "Digital ATP System", a field proven and state-of-the-art Distance-To-Go signalling system which was developed by Hitachi, allows trains to operate at shorter intervals than existing monorail systems.

Hitachi Railway Systems Korea Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. established in 2007, shall coordinate the project management, systems integration service, and management of Korean subcontractors throughout the contract term.

This new contract will be Hitachi's largest order for a monorail system outside of Japan, and following orders from China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.