Three thousand jobs could be at risk as the UK’s largest rail assembly factory, run by Alstom, has indicated it may stop production this week.
With an 18-month gap until the next order, Alstom managing director Nick Crossfield warned that the end of production of trains at the plant would have a major impact on the national supply chain.
He added the company could no longer guarantee a presence in Derby, where the company’s Litchurch Lane site is located.
The French multinational says it may need to shift production to Poland or India unless the UK government provides assurance regarding new train orders.
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The prospects for the historic plant have been made worse by the government’s cancellation of part of the HS2 high-speed line and the postponement of new train commissions for it.
More than 1,300 workers in Derby have already been notified of the termination of their contracts.
Alstom will soon be launching a commuter train manufacturing platform, Adessia, capable of producing battery and hydrogen-powered rolling stock.
These trains would replace the Aventra trains manufactured by Derby for various railway networks including the Elizabeth Line.
However, despite 10 months of discussions with transport secretary Mark Harper, Alstom is concerned about the lack of progress.
The Department for Transport is reportedly reluctant to provide any assurances to Alstom and Derby regarding future projects.
Crossfield told the BBC today (19 March): “Between now and May, June we will go down to very little, or no, activity, in what is one of the group’s largest facilities worldwide.
“The jobs on-site support a further 12,000 to 15,000 in the national supply chain that we support here,” he added.
“Once you lose that capability in the UK, even when we bid future work into the UK, it’s highly likely that activity would come from a supply chain outside of the UK.”
In December, representatives from the company and Derby City Council visited London to lobby parliament about a lack of orders.
Council leader Baggy Shanker said: “I think it’s come to the point where the government needs to back UK manufacturing and make a decision. It’s gone on for far too long.
“Once we lose this facility I just don’t think there’s any way of coming back.”
Local MPs contradicted each other over the plant’s prospects.
Heather Wheeler, Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, said she did not expect the factory to close, and added she was “really surprised” to hear Crossfield’s warning. But Margaret Beckett, Labour MP for Derby South, responded: “I can’t share the confidence she [Heather Wheeler] expressed about how the government knows all about it and has got it all sorted, it’s just everybody else who’s got it wrong.
“I just listened to the rail industry … they’re all saying the same thing as Alstom.”
Chris Hobson, from the East Midlands Chamber, told the BBC that the situation was “really concerning”.
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He said: “We’ve had a lot of uncertainty around forward orders when it comes to our manufacturing in the UK for a while now and that’s what’s led us to this position.”
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