Engineering news
Hitachi Rail Europe has retaliated to heavy criticism from the RMT transport union that the next generation of Intercity high speed trains should have been “wholly constructed in the UK”.
Hitachi is building an £82 million factory in Newton Ayclilffe, Country Durham, to produce its diesel / electric hybrid Class 800 and electric Class 801 trains, which won a Government tender called the Intercity Express Programme that was originally issued in 2005. The £5.7bn deal is for the supply of 500 carriages for the East Coast line from 2018 and 369 for the Great Western line from 2017.
The Newton Aycliffe plant will employ 730 people from 2016. The Japanese company has said it plans for the Newton Aycliffe site to be a base for expansion into the European rail sector.
After financing for the final £2.7bn of the £5.7bn required to supply the trains was secured by Hitachi earlier this week, Mick Cash, acting general secretary of the RMT transport union, said the new Intercity trains were being built in Japan and "shipped flat-packed to the North East, where they will be bolted back together".
He said: "Any new jobs are welcome but if the trains had been wholly constructed in the UK we would have been looking at many thousands of skilled engineering posts right across the supply chain which would have helped secure the future of train-building in the nation that gave the railways to the world.
Since the construction of the factory was announced in 2010, the Japanese company has been unclear about the proportion of manufacturing as opposed to assembly that will take place at Newton Aycliffe. Critics have labelled the facility an assembly plant, while Hitachi refer to it as a “Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility”.
Although not denying that the trains would be manufactured in Japan and assembled in Newton Aycliffe, Hitachi Rail Europe said: "The opportunity to manufacture the trains for the Intercity Express Programme in County Durham in the UK has brought benefits for the supply chain, and in particular SMEs throughout the country, who will be supplying directly for the new trains. We regard them as long-term partners.
“The Intercity Express Programme marks the start of Hitachi Rail Europe’s investment in Britain, supporting local jobs and helping to transform rail services.
The RMT’s Cash added: "We should remember that this Intercity fleet contract has been mired in delays and mismanagement and is years behind schedule.
"Yet despite that, the publicly-run East Coast Main Line, using some of the most ageing units on the tracks, is delivering the best and most cost-effective services anywhere on the network, hammering home the case for public ownership of our railways.”