Crossrail picks Bombardier to build new trains
BOMBARDIER has been chosen to build trains for the new Crossrail line, in a £1bn contract that secures work for the Canadian firm’s factory in Derby after a difficult few years.
Transport for London said Bombardier will deliver 65 new trains from 2017 and build a maintenance depot at Old Oak Common, safeguarding around 1,000 jobs and apprenticeships.
Bombardier’s win comes three years after it lost out on the Thameslink train contract to Siemens, putting the firm’s Midlands factory in jeopardy.
Bombardier’s UK managing director Francis Paonessa said the firm had reviewed its UK operations in the wake of the Thameslink loss, and added that three subsequent deals had helped secure the plant’s future until 2015.
“Crossrail now gives us a workload through to 2018,” Paonessa told Reuters yesterday.
But the decision comes as a blow to Hitachi, which is building a plant in County Durham to put together the new East Coast trains, and had hoped to expand the factory to accommodate an order for Crossrail.
Hitachi said it would ask for feedback on its bid so it can improve its offers as it seeks more work in the UK.
Spanish firm CAF also placed an unsuccessful bid, while German group Siemens withdrew from the process last summer.
Crossrail, which is due to open fully in 2019, will span 100km from Heathrow and Maidenhead in the west of London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
“With a firm on board to deliver a fleet of 21st century trains and the tunnelling more than halfway complete, we’re on track to deliver a truly world-class railway for the capital,” said Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
Bombardier’s shares rose 1.5 per cent in early trading in Toronto.