UK: Siemens Mobility Ltd has awarded contracts totalling £50m for the first phase of construction of the £200m rolling stock factory at Goole where it is to produce trainsets for London Underground’s Piccadilly Line, with potential follow-on orders for the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines.
GMI Construction Group has been awarded a £40m contract to build the factory and 4·5 km of railway including a connection to the main line. Siemens Mobility said key factors in the award were the Leeds-based company’s commitment to using local suppliers, its emphasis on employment skills and education and its record of project delivery.
A further £10m of contracts have been awarded to other British suppliers, with local companies including CR Reynolds (enabling works), Clay 10 (site visuals) and Premier Modular (temporary offices).
The factory designed by Arup and architects AHR is scheduled to open in 2023. It is expected to create up to 700 direct jobs, with a further 250 roles during construction and 1 700 indirect supply chain opportunities.
Putting Goole on the map
A ‘supplier village’ and innovation centre is also planned to make Goole a rail centre of excellence for the UK.
‘Our goal is to really put Goole on the map’, said Sambit Banerjee, Managing Director of Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock & Customer Services, when the contracts were announced on February 10. ‘We want to create more than just a rail manufacturing factory, this is about generating long-term investment, skills and jobs. We are actively looking for as many UK suppliers as possible to contribute to Goole’s success.’
Siemens Mobility Ltd said it works with around 3 000 suppliers, 47% of which are UK-based SMEs, and 90% of its spend is with UK-based suppliers. British companies in the supply chain include Yorkshire-based LPA Lighting which will provide train interior lighting, Midlands-based Baker Bellfield which will supply cab partition walls and IM Kelly which will deliver driver’s seats.
Commenting on the award of the factory construction contract, Secretary of State for Transport and Northern Powerhouse Minister Grant Shapps said the factory would ‘create new skilled jobs in Goole, boost local supply chains and generate long-term investment’.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the commitment to invest in local suppliers was ‘a fantastic example of how we can level up across the country and build back better from the pandemic.’
