Bosses at a major train factory in County Durham have high hopes for a brighter future, following major worries for hundreds of jobs at the site.
There were celebrations on Thursday as a £300 million order for new trains to be built at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe plant was announced. It marks a second major boost for the employer in a matter of months, alongside a £500 million deal to build trains for FirstGroup which was announced last December, after months of concern over the factory’s future and concerns that a looming production gap threatened the livelihoods of the 750 staff who work there.
The latest order is for nine battery hybrid trains for Arriva Group, which will replace the entire fleet of the Grand Central Service which runs trains from Sunderland to London. And the Hitachi hierarchy hope this is a sign of things to come, with the cutting-edge battery technology that it successfully trialled last year paving the way for new opportunities – including retrofitting other train fleets as well as new-builds.
Jim Brewin, Hitachi Rail’s chief director in the UK and Ireland, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he was “delighted” with the latest order but most excited by the “new technology journey” the Durham factory can embark on. He said: “What it gives is a longer-term focus on what we can do for the industry. Once you have solutions for people, orders will follow on the back of that I believe. It is a very positive day for the team here, not just in terms of the order but also from a business perspective.”
Mr Brewin added that he believed the business was now coming out of a “concerning” period where the pipeline of work was drying up. He said: “Two orders in six months is absolutely thrilling, given the last few years and the impact of the Covid pandemic on the industry, on procurement, etc. Two orders is another step in the right direction.
“But what I am pleased about is that the market seems to have reopened, it seems to be more business as usual. There are procurements that we can bid for and hopefully be successful in.
“The market seems to be stabilising and I think that is largely to do with the timescales in the industry after the Covid pandemic, honestly speaking. It might seem odd that that was a long time ago, but rail works in years. I think we are coming out of that impact position, we are receiving orders, we have things to bid for, we have new technology to offer – so, all in all, it is a really positive day.”
Labour’s transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, visited the plant on Thursday and called the latest deal a “vote of confidence in rail manufacturing and in the North East”. She told the LDRS: “It is a big moment, it is a really important deal for Hitachi, and great news for Newton Aycliffe.”
The new train order came after Arriva was given permission to continue its Grand Central operations, which also run from Bradford to London, until 2038. The company is also seeking approval for new services that would stop at Seaham in County Durham, which would be the town’s first and only direct connection to the capital.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness said that Thursday was “brilliant news” for Sunderland, as well as showing market confidence in Hitachi to prove the factory “has longevity into the future”.
Angel Trains, who will finance the new train deal and who partnered with Hitachi to trial the ‘tri-mode’ technology on the UK rail network in 2024, promised the new carriages would “deliver significant benefits for Grand Central passengers, connecting communities across the North of England and driving essential economic growth”. David Jordan, COO of Angel Trains, said: “This latest development builds on the momentum created by the successful conclusion of our battery trial with Hitachi Rail at the end of last year and demonstrates the transformative potential of battery technology in both existing and new fleets.”
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/hitachi-trains-durham-factory-deal-31347917
