Member Article

Newcastle firm to build Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe factory

Hitachi Rail Europe has appointed Newcastle-based Merchant Place Developments to build its £82m Newton Aycliffe train factory.

The facility will be Hitachi’s first European train factory to build the Super Express Trains for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line, and possibly Crossrail stock in the future.

Alistair Dormer, executive chairman and CEO of Hitachi Rail Europe said: “The close of contract with Merchant Place Development signals a new phase in Hitachi’s commitment to the British rail industry.

“By investing substantially in our train factory, we are creating employment opportunities for a large number of engineers and technicians in the North East of England, which has a strong tradition of engineering skills. We are keen to fill our order books, building trains here in the UK – for use in Britain and for exporting to continental Europe.”

Hitachi said it was committed to creating North East jobs, and the new facility is estimated to create around 780 positions.

Geoff Hunton, Director of Merchant Place Developments, added: “This is the formal element of bringing Hitachi Rail Europe to the North East. We have taken the design of the plant to a detailed stage and have been in discussions with suppliers and contractors so that we are ready to move ahead with the development programme.

“I believe this says much about our region, our skills base and the connectivity to Europe and beyond through our ports in particular. It also says a great deal about our investors who have been very loyal to this project since we first acquired Amazon Park five years ago.

“It is these investors who financed the purchase of the site rather than the traditional institutional funding route and without those investors we would not be where we are today. It is also a tribute to the team effort that brought this very significant inward investment to Newton Aycliffe notably through the help we have had from Durham County Council, Business Durham and cross-party political support headed by Phil Wilson, MP for Sedgefield.”

Hitachi has received a £4m grant from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, following its win of the contract to replace diesel-powered Intercity trains on the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line.

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