Dutch-owned Abellio, who operate the train lines between London Liverpool Street and stations including Cambridge, Norwich and Stansted Airport, have re-secured the franchise until 2025. The deal means Bombardier will build 660 carriages at the Derby plant, which will secure over 1,000 jobs for the next decade, according to the Department for Transport.
The factory in Derby is the UK’s last remaining train manufacturing plant. It has been in operation since 1876, and was acquired by Canadian company Bombardier in 2001. In recent years, it cut almost half of its workforce after the government awarded the £3bn contract for Thameslink trains to Siemens in Germany. Two years ago, the site won a £1bn contract to manufacture trains for the Crossrail project in London.
Speaking at the plant, transport secretary Chris Grayling said: “We are making the biggest investment in the railways since the Victorian era. By awarding this franchise to Abellio we will improve journeys for people in East Anglia.
“This is part of our plan to make an economy that works for everyone – not just the privileged few – by ensuring prosperity is spread throughout the country.”
Des McKeon, Bombardier Transportation’s UK commercial director, said: “We’re delighted to be chosen, pending final contract signing, as the preferred supplier for new trains for the East Anglia franchise. We look forward to working with our customer Abellio UK, to support them in transforming rail services throughout the region.”
News is not as good for Bombardier’s aerospace division, as the company announced that the 95 redundancies planned at its site in Belfast have been brought forward from their planned date of 2017. The company announced in February that it was cutting over 1,000 jobs globally as part of a two-year restructuring process, which was due to start next year. However, the company have decided to bring this forward.
“We must continue to evaluate every opportunity to significantly reduce our costs and improve our competitiveness in order to help secure our long-term future,” said a Bombardier spokesperson. “We appreciate that this is a very difficult time for our workforce and their families, and we are doing all we can to mitigate the numbers of compulsory redundancies.”
Davy Thompson of the workers’ union Unite said: “We need this Stormont government to take this seriously. It needs to be given urgent and immediate attention in order that we secure and sustain our heavy manufacturing industry within Northern Ireland.”
