TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (hereinafter “TISS”) and their client, Taiwan Railways Administration, MOTC (TRA), have been honored with two awards at Good Design Awards 2023, the annual awards sponsored by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion to honor good design and product quality. Both the “Good Design Best 100” and the “Good Focus Award [New Business Design]” were for the E500 electric locomotive that Toshiba and TISS are supplying to TRA.
TISS received an order for 68 for the E500 and their spare parts in October 2019*1, and deliveries are currently underway. The E500 can haul both passenger and freight trains, and will enter operation on lines throughout Taiwan.
The Good Design Best 100 is a curation of competition entries selected for their excellence in originality, strength of proposal, aesthetics, and degree of realization. The E500 was selected for raising the bar for current standards of electric locomotive design, and serving as a model of future best practices.
The Good Focus Award [New Business Design] is a special award, following the Grand Award and the Gold Award, given by the Good Design jury to particularly outstanding designs that contribute to the creation of new business models, new industries, and the promotion of innovation. The E500 electric locomotive won a high evaluation for its customizability in the demanding terrain of Taiwan, its maintainability for long-term operation, and for promoting regional cooperation.
Comment from the Good Design Jury on the award-winning product:
Taiwan Railways Administration, MOTC Electric locomotive E500
The development of a modular electric locomotive platform has made it possible to customize to the local needs and to maintain the long term operation for more than 30 years, which is highly evaluated. The train nose shape gives the impression of the train. The train nose has an independent structure, which ensures the safety of the crew and passengers, and allows for flexible changes according to necessity. I highly appreciate the process that they have worked with an aesthetic expert in Taiwan, where the trains will be operated, to create a design that is familiar with and loved by local people.
Good Design Award winners will be exhibited at the GOOD DESIGN EXHIBITION 2023 at Tokyo Midtown from October 25 to 29.