Japan's bullet train maker, Hitachi has announced its decision to move its global rail headquarters to the UK in order to increase focus on contracts in Europe.

The company is planning to open a factory in Newton Aycliffe next year. The move will create 730 jobs initially in the north east of England. The Japanese major is trying to expand its total workforce from 2,500 to 4,000 depending upon the number of contracts. The new unit is holding talks to develop new carriages for the Great Western and East Coast lines in deals worth £5.8 billion for Hitachi.

Hitachi is aiming to bid for work on HS2 as well as other rolling stock contracts across Europe and is already running for work in Sweden and Germany. Hitachi's Japanese unit had supplied the Javelin trains that currently ply on High Speed 1 line between London and Ashford and also helped develop the Shinkansen bullet trains that can attain a speed of upto 320km an hour on a line to Tokyo. The new focus on Europe might allow the company to win new contracts.