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£1.6bn train contract comes to North East

A South Tyneside factory once threatened with closure will now benefit from a £1.6bn contract to produce components for Thameslink trains.

Siemens’ Hebburn plant will build hi-tech electrical components for the Desiro City trains to be used for the Thameslink, following a contract awarded by the Department for Transport.

The deal represents the largest ever contract awarded to Siemens and encompasses 1,140 new commuter trains. Siemens and Cross London Trains, a consortium of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, Innisfree Limited and 3i Infrastructure, will take on the work.

Steve Scrimshaw, UK managing director at Siemens Rail Systems, said: “The finalisation of the Thameslink contract reaffirms Siemens’ commitment to ongoing development and continued innovation in the UK rail industry.

“The introduction of the new Desiro City will offer a much improved passenger travel experience and a step change in capacity and reliability. It’s a technologically advanced train that has been designed with UK travellers in mind, incorporating proven technology and using the expertise, skills and feedback of highly experienced UK operators, train crew, cleaners and maintenance staff at every stage of the process.”

Siemens has invested around €50m to develop the Desiro City train, the platform that has been selected for the Thameslink Programme.

The first trains will be introduced into services from early 2016 and the fleet will be maintained at two new depots at Three Bridges, near Crawley and Hornsey.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .