Hitachi Rail is celebrating 10 years of Scottish operations, with its British-built trains and digital maintenance, increasing reliability and modal shift, while also reducing carbon emissions by 82 per cent.

As part of ‘Team Scotland’ Hitachi Rail has been developing new solutions to both improve resilience and help decarbonise the railways.

Hitachi Rail is sponsoring Rail Scotland Conference on 5th March, where it will present what’s next for Scotland’s Railways.

In 2026, Hitachi Rail is celebrating a decade of operations in Scotland, highlighting a sustained partnership with ScotRail, Transport Scotland and Network Rail (‘Team Scotland’) that has delivered industry‑leading reliability, reduced carbon emissions by 82 per cent, and ongoing investment in skills and infrastructure.

Since first entering Scotland’s rail market in 2016, Hitachi Rail’s investment and growth has been fuelled by the introduction of LNER’s iconic Azuma and ScotRail’s transformational Class 385. Both these British-built fleets have improved connectivity and increased reliability across Scotland, with the Edinburgh (Craigentinny) depot and Glasgow HQ home to 300 highly skilled Hitachi Rail employees.

Across the Central Belt, the ScotRail Express (Class 385) remains one of the UK’s best‑performing suburban fleets and is currently 4× more reliable than the UK industry average for fleets with over 50 units. In 2024-25 alone, 7.8 million customer journeys were made on Class 385 services between Edinburgh and Glasgow, representing a 5% increase from 2023-24. Being fully electric, the Class 385 has played a major role cutting emissions on the Glasgow–Edinburgh corridor by 82% each year, compared to the diesel trains it replaced.

Hitachi Rail has said its investment in Scotland goes far beyond rolling stock. It has invested in people and place. That includes a £30 million upgrade of the 122‑year‑old Craigentinny depot. The site, and the highly skilled Hitachi Rail workforce, is a hub for Scotland’s railway, maintaining six separate fleets. This unique ability to support both modern and legacy trains makes the Craigentinny team one of Scotland’s most valuable rail skills bases. Over the past decade, we have digitally upskilled the workforce, establishing Craigentinny as a pioneer of Hitachi’s UK digital maintenance capability.

Additionally, Hitachi Rail is inspiring the next generation of Scottish rail engineers through its partnership with Powering Futures, where Hitachi Rail volunteers support STEM learning and real‑world problem‑solving at Portobello High School. Hitachi Rail is also delivering essential safety education through Rail Safe Friendly at 10 local primary schools, with plans to expand to both primary and secondary schools this year.

Hitachi Rail will remain part of Team Scotland well into the 2030s, following the extension of its maintenance contracts for the Class 385 fleet. This certainty allows Hitachi Rail to explore opportunities for innovation — from deeper integration of our AI‑enabled digital asset‑management platform, HMAX, to how our battery‑technology solutions could encourage modal shift and reduce costs.

Kelly Warburton, UK Sales Director at Hitachi Rail, said: “For a decade, Hitachi Rail has been proud to support Scotland’s railway, investing in new technology and working hand‑in‑hand with ScotRail, Network Rail and Transport Scotland to help make the Class 385s one of Britain’s most reliable fleets.

“Our long-term partnership means we never stop asking what’s next for Scotland’s railways. We are excited about the new battery and digital solutions we have been busy developing, which can help deliver even greater reliability, resilience and greener travel choices for passengers across Scotland.”

Kelly Warburton will be presenting what’s next for Hitachi Rail in Scotland at Scotland’s premier rail industry event on 5th March – Rail Scotland Conference 2026.

Tom Hawkesworth, CEO of Agility Trains, said: “For over ten years, Agility Trains has been a proud partner in Scotland’s rail success, investing significantly in the essential infrastructure – including depots in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness – that keeps the nation moving.“Our commitment to Scotland extends well into the coming decades. From continued investment in our iconic LNER Azuma fleet and train care facilities to pioneering new safety technologies like digital in-cab signalling, our goal is to provide Scottish communities with a high-quality, more dependable rail service. Together with our partners, we are ensuring that Scotland’s rail network is sustainable and technologically advanced for the years ahead.”

For more than ten years, Hitachi Rail has worked with Agility Trains, a company established in 2008 to deliver the next generation of high-speed intercity trains for the UK’s rail network, including on the East Coast Main Line. Since 2015, Agility has funded critical infrastructure enhancements in Scotland at the Craigentinny (Edinburgh), Inverness, and Aberdeen Clayhills depots to prepare the network for the high-speed LNER fleet. Having held the lease for Craigentinny since 2018 with a long-term commitment spanning beyond the next 20 years, Agility continues to drive investment and innovation in Scotland to enhance passenger experience, sustainability, safety, and performance for years to come.

Hitachi is a partner to Scotland across both energy and mobility. In 2016, Hitachi supported Scotland’s net‑zero ambitions as a principal partner of Glasgow’s COP26. Today, Hitachi Energy is advancing five major projects that will connect more than 4GW to the Scottish grid, including delivering clean, reliable power to remote communities in the Shetlands and the Hebrides.

In mobility, Hitachi is supporting more sustainable transport through the daily operation of 159 trains and 150 electric buses across Scotland. Hitachi’s commitment to Scotland continues with the development of Hitachi Energy’s new £3 million UK Engineering Centre of Excellence in Glasgow, creating 90 specialist roles to modernise the grid or energy network.