UK: Siemens Mobility announced new investment of up to £40m and the creation of up to a further 300 jobs when Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan attended the official opening of its £200m Goole Rail Village on October 3.
Siemens Mobility has committed to building all future UK rolling stock orders at Goole, including its proposed Verve battery trains. The Rail Village is also now part of the company’s overall manufacturing network and work for countries outside the UK could be undertaken there by 2030.
The company hopes that this will ensure continuity of work for employees and the supply chain, avoiding the peaks and troughs being faced by some other UK-based manufacturers.
Goole Rail Village
The 27 ha Goole Rail Village comprises the Train Manufacturing Facility which will assemble and commission trains; the Components Facility to maintain gearboxes, traction motors and other parts, including work for other manufacturers; and a Logistics Centre warehousing facility.
The newly announced investment will see the creation of a ‘state-of-the-art’ Bogie Assembly & Service Centre. This will incorporate and expand Siemens Mobility’s current capabilities to overhaul bogies from the 572 trains totalling 3 224 vehicles it maintains in the UK. Due to open in late 2026, it will also include production lines for assembling bogies for new trains, a first for Siemens in the UK.
Overall, Siemens Mobility says its investment in the region will create 700 jobs, with a further 300 roles during the construction phase and an additional 1 700 indirect supply chain opportunities.
It has supported the local supply chain wherever possible, contracting Leeds-based GMI Construction to build the Goole factory, Components Facility and the warehouse. GMI’s supply chain is based entirely in the UK with over 70% of it based in Yorkshire.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said ‘this impressive, world-class facility will be transformational to Goole and its people, providing a boost to the region’s economy and supporting hundreds of skilled jobs.
‘Its opening demonstrates the importance of high quality, long-term investment to pave the way for employment and growth. I know how vital rail manufacturing is to our economy, which is why we will not sit on our hands when it comes to supporting it.
‘For too long, the cycle of boom-and-bust has held back this sector. That’s why I am determined to put an end to the stop-start approach to investment and provide the industry with the certainty it needs to deliver a railway that is fit for the future.’
London Underground trains
The Train Manufacturing Facility will initially handle the assembly of 80% of London Underground’s new Piccadilly Line fleet which is now expected to start entering passenger service from 2025.
The £1·5bn order covers 94 nine-car articulated trainsets based on the manufacturer’s Inspiro platform. The remaining 20% of the order is being assembled at its facility in Wien, and the first completed sets are now at the Test & Validation Centre at Wegberg-Wildenrath in Germany.
Several components for the Piccadilly Line trains will come from Yorkshire and UK suppliers, such as the exterior lighting from LPA Lighting.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the Goole train manufacturing facility is a ‘fantastic example’ of ‘how investment in London benefits the whole country’, and it would deliver ‘great benefits to the wider UK economy, showing that where London succeeds, the whole country succeeds and vice versa’.
