Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (TISS) has received an order from the Bank of Taiwan to deliver 68 electric locomotives and spare parts worth about 40 billion yen (almost $369 million) to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).

TISS will manufacture the electric locomotives at its Fuchu Complex (near Tokyo); deliveries will start in 2022.

Designed to be capable of hauling both passenger and freight trains, these electric locomotives will mainly be used for express passenger trains connecting major cities in Taiwan.

This is the first time TRA has chosen to procure complete electric locomotives manufactured in Japan.

In 2000, TISS (www.toshiba.co.jp) delivered electrical equipment for TRA’s EMU600 commuter trains, and it has delivered electrical equipment for more than 700 carriages since then.

Last year, TISS received an order for traction system electrical equipment for 520 carriages of new commuter EMUs that will commence commercial operation at the end of 2020.

In addition, the company has ‘continually delivered’ a variety of electrical equipment — as used by rolling stock, wayside traction power supply systems and traffic control systems — to Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation.

The contract for new electric locomotives recognises TISS’s extensive experience in the Taiwan market, as well as its supply over the years of locomotives in Japan.

In 2015, the TRA announced a 10-year plan to invest 100 billion Taiwan dollars (about 360 billion yen) in the purchase of about 1,300 new rolling-stock units, and it is currently in the process of carrying out that plan.