Siemens Goole

Siemens Goole
The location of the Siemens plant in Goole near to Junction 36 on the M62. The line on the left is for Whitley Bridge, the line next to it is the siding for Guardian Glass. The flat space beyond the trees in the middle ground is where the plant will be located
Location in Goole
Location Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire
Coordinates 53°41′57″N 0°53′37″W / 53.6993°N 0.8937°W / 53.6993; -0.8937Coordinates: 53°41′57″N 0°53′37″W / 53.6993°N 0.8937°W / 53.6993; -0.8937
Industry Rolling stock assembly
Employees 700 (projected)
Area 67 acres (27 ha)
Owner(s) Siemens

Siemens Goole is a projected train factory located in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The company scoped several sites in the United Kingdom before settling on Goole with an intent to build the plant if they were successful in gaining orders for new rolling stock. After a June 2018 announcement that Siemens had won the bid to build 94 trains for the Piccadilly Line, Siemens confirmed they would go ahead with building the factory.

History

During a period of sustained new train building for the United Kingdom rail network,[1] Siemens announced in March 2018 that they would build a train factory in the UK it were to be successful in acquiring new contracts for trains.[2] Siemens have already built for the UK market with their Desiro family design which includes the class 185 DMUs, and the class 350 and 450 EMUs among others.[3] The company already employs over 4,400 people in the United Kingdom across eight sites that provide rolling stock care.[4][note 1][5]

After searching for a suitable site, Siemens acquired some land in Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, stating that on winning orders, they would build a factory there.[6] In June 2018, Siemens were awarded a £1.5 billion Contract for 94 tube trains for the Piccadilly line.[7] This triggered the plan to build the factory making Siemens the fourth train builder with an actual factory presence in the UK and the third new build factory within eight years.[8][note 2] Previous to this, the Bombardier factory in Derby was the only UK based train builder.[7]

The plant will cost £200 million and cover a 67-acre (27 ha) area and employ 700 people in its factory.[9] 250 jobs will created in building the factory with a further estimated 1,700 indirect jobs in the supply chain. The plant would use an existing siding in Goole that leads to a glass factory to provide access and egress for trains and will be sited on the Goole 36 industrial park adjacent to Junction 36 of the M62 motorway.[10] There will be a manufacturing and commissioning site, offices, warehouses, stabling sidings and there is space for a test track to be installed.[11] The buildings would cover 807,293 square feet (75,000 m2) and the internal lines in the complex would total 7 miles (12 km).[12]

In the £1.5 billion deal,[13] the factory will build the trains in the Inspiro range already in use by other operators and is to replace old Tube stock from 1973.[14] The contract details 564 cars to be built (which will be marshalled into 94 trains) with an option of a further 150 trains for the Deep Tube upgrade. The initial order is expected to be complete in 2026.[15]

The announcement of Siemens as the winning bid led to criticism of that decision by the MP for Sedgefield, Phil Wilson. Wilson stated that it was a "slap in the face" for the workers at the railway rolling stock factory at Newton Aycliffe run by Hitachi, as they have the skills and ability to build the trains, whereas the Siemens bid has to wait on its factory to be built.[16]

Siemens, who have merged their rail building and maintenance sector with Alstom,[note 3][17] was one of four train builders invited to bid for the contract to provide rolling stock for the HS2 line.[note 4][18] One of the stipulations of the contract was that if the new high-speed trains were not going to be built in Britain, then they should at least be assembled there. If Siemens/Alstom were successful, the trains could be assembled at Goole or at Alstom's plant at Widnes.[19]

In July 2018, the trainmakers Bombardier and Hitachi, who submitted a joint bid for the Deep Tube contract, filed papers with the High Court in London in an attempt to overturn the Siemens contract. Due to legal reasons, no comment was issued as to the nature of the complaint.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ These are at: Glasgow Shields, Ilford, Leeds Neville Hill, London Acton, Manchester Ardwick, Northampton Kings Heath, Southampton Northam, Three Bridges and York Leeman Road.
  2. ↑ The Times article does not mention that this will be the fourth train factory in the UK; Bombardier have a plant in Derby, CAF are building a plant in Newport and Hitachi Newton Aycliffe is already sending out Class 800 and Class 395 trains.
  3. ↑ The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have lodged an objection to the merger between Alstom and Siemens, particularly as it will give them a market share of signalling on the UKs railways of between 55 and 80%.
  4. ↑ At the start of the tendering process, there were five companies; Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi, Patentes Talgo and Siemens. As Siemens and Alstom have merged their rail businesses, the field has narrowed to four. CAF, despite having a UK facility, were not in the running. In July 2018, an announcement that Bombardier and Hitachi would combine efforts for the HS2 bid, but not in other bids, led to the UK Government inviting CAF to tender for the bid to retain competition.

References

  1. ↑ Shirres, David (22 March 2017). "New trains in their thousands". Rail Engineer. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Plans for 700 jobs at new train factory". BBC News. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Clinnick, Richard (15 April 2015). "On track for Thameslink". www.railmagazine.com. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Casci, Mark (2 March 2018). "Siemens unveils plans for £200m Yorkshire factory that could create 1,700 new jobs". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Siemens Rail Systems UK" (PDF). w3.siemens.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Milner, Chris, ed. (April 2018). "Siemens propose £200m rail factory in Goole". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 164 no. 1, 405. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 6. ISSN 0033-8923.
  7. 1 2 Lea, Robert (16 June 2018). "Siemens will build factory in UK after winning Tube train contract". The Times (72563). p. 55. ISSN 0140-0460.
  8. ↑ Lea, Robert (2 March 2018). "Siemens vow to build UK rail factory". The Times. Retrieved 15 July 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
  9. ↑ "Factory wins £1.5bn Tube train deal". BBC News. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Dyson, Andrew, ed. (May 2018). "Siemens unveils plans for factory in Goole". Today's Railways. Sheffield: Platform 5 (197): 12. ISSN 1475-9713.
  11. ↑ Peace, Lee (2 March 2018). "£200m rail factory could create 1, 700 jobs to be built near Doncaster". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Prest, Victoria (2 March 2018). "New £200m Siemens train factory set to create 700 jobs". York Press. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 Harris, Nigel, ed. (1 August 2018). "Bombardier and Hitachi challenge award of Deep Tube contract". Rail Magazine. No. 858. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 15. ISSN 0953-4563.
  14. ↑ "Siemens to supply London Underground deep tube fleet". Metro Report. 15 June 2018. ISSN 2043-0442. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Ford, Roger (August 2018). "Kittens in the firing line". Modern Railways. Vol. 75 no. 839. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 28. ISSN 0026-8356.
  16. ↑ Mainwaring-Taylor, Flossie (16 June 2018). "Hitachi misses out on £1.5bn contract". The Northern Echo. pp. 1&ndash, 2.
  17. ↑ Roden, Andrew (1 August 2018). "ORR opposes Siemens-Alstom merger on competition grounds". Rail Magazine. No. 858. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 14. ISSN 0953-4563.
  18. ↑ Clinnick, Richard (4 July 2018). "CAF rejoins HS2 trains competition as Bombardier and Hitachi join forces". www.railmagazine.com. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Lea, Robert (2 November 2017). "Five trainmakers shortlisted for £2.75bn HS2 contract". The Times. Retrieved 23 July 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
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