It dates back to the early 2000s when High Speed One was under construction. Hitachi saw which way the wind was blowing, and in their tender they leaned hard on the fact that they could spec, design, build and introduce a brand-new fleet of modern high-speed trains in time for the 2012 Olympic Games and beyond, which was the central plank of London winning the bid.
So, the Javelins shuttled people back and forth between St Pancras in central London and the gigantic park-and-ride station at Ebbsfleet, and the Olympic Park; using this as a proving experience for what would later become the domestic high-speed route between the south-east and London, that alternates between the high-speed route and the slower 'classic route'. In return for this, Hitachi found a substantial foothold in the European market, alongside Alstom, Siemens, etc; it was a win-win-win for everyone concerned.
>>1938231Indeed: they were FOI'd back when this started coming up and, cutting through the treacle a little, it was basically 'both of us want this to go away, you're going to fix it and we're going to help you fix it, and nobody's going to say anything unwise'.
Still, the usual wobble-chinned "enthusiasts" would sieze upon anything they could use as a stick to beat anybody taking away the trains they used to ride on as a kid, conveniently editing out all the teething issues the HSTs had (self-destructing brakes, overheating engines guzzling coolant) or the Electras (dreadful ride quality, blown relays or whatever they're called).
