Tees Valley Mayor: £2.8bn HS2 train contract should go to Hitachi Rail

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is today (July 18) calling on the Secretary of State for Transport to award a £2.8bn train contract to North East-based Hitachi Rail Europe.

In a joint bid with manufacturing giant Bombardier, Hitachi is looking to design, manufacture and maintain at least 54 trains for the UK’s new High Speed 2 railway.

Mayor Houchen said in his letter to Chris Grayling MP that giving the contract to Hitachi would be a “monumental vote of confidence in Tees Valley’s workforce, world-class supply chain and the wider Northern Powerhouse”.

The firm employs over 1,000 people at its £82m manufacturing and assembly plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

Mayor Houchen also wrote in his letter that awarding the contract to a company based just a few miles from the birthplace of the world’s first passenger railway, running between Stockton and Darlington, would “truly bring train building back home”.

Chris Grayling MP (left) and Mayor Ben Houchen

Discussing his message to Chris Grayling, Mayor Houchen said: “Local people are not yet convinced of the benefits HS2 will bring to the region. In reality, they see a multibillion-pound railway from London to Birmingham and that’s it.

“That’s why the Government needs to award the train contract to Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe to demonstrate that all areas stand to benefit.”

He continued: “The Secretary of State has visited the Tees Valley on a number of occasions and is well aware of our rich railway heritage, our efforts to drive home new investment opportunities and our great plans for the future of rail travel.

“This contract would be a massive coup for a firm that has constantly showed its commitment to the Tees Valley, through working side-by-side with our businesses and helping them grow. The benefits would be felt across our whole area and the wider North East.”

Hitachi is currently providing new electric and bi-mode trains for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line under the Government’s £5.7bn InterCity Express Programme.

The new ‘Azuma’ trains will enter service on the East Coast Main Line by the end of the year, improving capacity and connectivity in the North East and the length of the country.