Siemens Thameslink deal 'will create 2000 jobs'
SIEMENS has won a contract worth some £1.5 billion to build the new Thameslink fleet, after fending off competitor Bombardier to be named as preferred bidder. Siemens said the project would create up to 2,000 jobs in the supply chain.
The Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum is shrugging off the loss of the business to Derby-based Bombardier, saying that the Derby rail sector would 'remain very much in business'. Bombardier itself has yet to comment.
Rail minister Theresa Villiers said: "The announcement of Siemens as preferred bidder for this contract represents the best value for money for taxpayers. It will create around 2,000 new jobs and will provide Thameslink passengers with modern, greener and more reliable trains.
"The new trains are a major part of the Government’s commitment to introduce an additional 2,100 carriages on to the rail network by 2019. Once the new trains are delivered, current Thameslink rolling stock becomes available to improve rail services in the North West of England, the Thames Valley and other areas yet to be confirmed."
There had been high hopes that the contract, involving up to 1,200 new vehicles, would be awarded to Bombardier. But the decision to choose a preferred bidder had been deferred several times by the Department for Transport, with the two shortlisted contenders making their best and final bids in January this year.
Siemens managing director for rolling stock in the UK, Steve Scrimshaw, said he was delighted. He added: "Our selection is a significant achievement, not only for the rolling stock teams both in the UK and Germany but for Siemens overall."
In a statement, the company added that the selection had been made on strict evaluation criteria, with focus on deliverability, affordability and value for money. Although some of the components are set to be made in Britain, the trains themselves will be built in Germany.
The fleet will be the first production run of Siemens' new Desiro City units (model, pictured), which have been developed for the British market.
Siemens is in partnership with Cross London Trains, a consortium of Siemens Project Ventures, Innisfree and 3i Infrastructure. The name is not without significance: the next major rolling stock contract in Britain will be for the Crossrail fleet, and some industry observers have already suggested that the winner of the Thameslink contract is likely to be favourite to build the Crossrail trains in due course as well.
ENDS
----
From: http://railnews.co.uk/news/general/2011 ... sence.html
Bombardier may review British presence after defeat
BOMBARDIER is reported to be set to review its activities in Britain, after losing a £1.5 billion train order to Siemens.
More than three thousand jobs now hang in the balance, while Bombardier seeks a 'debriefing' from the DfT on why it lost the order for some 1,200 new vehicles for Thameslink.
The order, for which Siemens is now the Department for Transport’s preferred bidder, is to build approximately 300 4-car units to replace and enlarge the present Thameslink fleet. Some of these units would run in 12-car formations, and platforms have already been lengthened accordingly at many stations on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes in recent years.
Assuming that the contract is confirmed later this year, the first of the new trains – built in Germany – are due to be delivered in 2015.
The British supply chain will make some contribution, with up to 300 jobs expected to be created at Hebburn in Tyneside to make components for the new fleet, which Siemens has dubbed 'Desiro City'.
Siemens said that in all 2,000 jobs could be created in Britain as a result of the order, but as there are now fears for the future of the Bombardier train-building works at Derby, more than twice this number could be lost in the East Midlands alone.
Around 2,300 permanent staff are employed by Bombardier at Litchurch Lane in Derby, with another 700 currently on short-term agency contracts.
Several thousand more people are employed by companies in the local supply chain in and around the city, some of whom depend on the existence of Bombardier.
Ironically, the Bombardier works at Litchurch Lane are very busy at the moment, completing a number of orders which include 191 'S-stock' cars for the subsurface lines of London Underground.
The last of these are to be delivered in 2014, but other contracts will be completed within a year or less, leaving the plant to run down unless new orders can be found.
Bombardier has also scored a success this week, winning its largest ever resignalling contract for the London Underground Metropolitan Line and the other subsurface routes, but this work will not help Litchurch Lane to survive.
A spokesman for Bombardier would say only that the company was 'very disappointed' to have lost the Thameslink order, and that it would be seeking a debriefing from the Department for Transport, which allowed its decision to emerge early yesterday.
The transport secretary Philip Hammond had made what should have been a keynote speech at the industry exhibition Railtex just 24 hours earlier, but observers noted that he was careful to avoid the issue of the Thameslink contract.
The longer-term future of Litchurch Lane, and indeed Bombardier in Britain, must now be in doubt, but the company would not be drawn on what might happen next, insisting that no decisions had yet been made.
ENDS
