JLR and Hitachi create 2,000 jobs

Car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was the first to lead the news bulletins, announcing it is to create 1100 new jobs in the West Midlands, then the Department for Transport announced that more than 900 jobs will be created to build new trains for the country's ailing rail network. The new jobs at JLR's Castle Bromwich plant will be deployed on, among other models, the Indian-owned company's new Jaguar XF Sportbrake estate. Meanwhile, Agility Trains – a partnership between Japanese firm Hitachi and UK construction company John Laing – will create 900-plus jobs as part of a £4.5bn contract to build and maintain new inter-city trains at a new factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. More than 90 new trains will replace the old Intercity 125s on the East Coast and Great Western main lines in about five years time.