Member Article

£1.2bn Hitachi deal secures future jobs

Hitachi Rail Europe say the “hugely important” new train deal will take manufacturing at its County Durham factory up to 2020.

Hitachi announced today a new £1.2bn deal to build 270 carriages as the second phase of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP).

This tops up the original £4.5bn contract to make 596 vehicles at the Japanese firm’s £82m train-building factory at Aycliffe Business Park in Newton Aycliffe, which is due to start construction later this year.

It means the factory’s capacity is already half full for when it’s due to start production towards the end of 2015 - securing the long-term future of its 730 staff.

Darren Cumner, the Aycliffe plant manager for Hitachi, told Bdaily: “This is the second large order that we’ve won and takes manufacturing up to around 2020, so it’s massively important for us today.

“The factory itself has about 50 per cent capacity at the moment with this order, up to 2020, so we still have room to take plenty of orders, and that’s our main focus.”

Hitachi were dealt a small blow three weeks ago when they failed to win a £280m contract to build 60 commuter trains for Deutsche Bahn in Germany.

But Mr Cumner said: “We’re going to bid for a lot of orders - sometimes we’re going to win them, sometimes we’re not.

“The good thing at the moment is we are winning the big orders and we are filling the factory and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do.”

Hitachi don’t expect to announce any more major deals any time soon, with the focus very much now shifting towards the construction of the Aycliffe site.

“We’re still working on things but there won’t be any major announcements in the short-term,” added Mr Cumner.

The latest order for the trains, called the class 800 series, will be operational on the East Coast Main Line from 2019 and will deliver significant benefits to passengers, including boosting capacity by 18 per cent and improving train reliability by a factor of five.

North East Chamber of Commerce chief executive, James Ramsbotham, said: “Not only is this great news for passengers who regularly use the East Coast Mainline, it is a huge boost to regional manufacturing and a renewed declaration from the Government that it is committed to Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe operation.

“Hitachi’s investment will undoubtedly continue the industrial renaissance that started when Nissan arrived in the North East of England. The scale of investment and the volume of jobs associated with it will have a profoundly positive impact upon our region’s economy.

“The North East is the birthplace of the train; it will be fantastic to once again be UK leaders in this industry. The challenge is now to ensure the region has the skills and experience to guarantee Hitachi a long and profitable relationship with the North East.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .