UK: Construction of a £1·5m locomotive maintenance shed has begun at rolling stock engineering company UK Rail Leasing Ltd’s Leicester site.
The facility is scheduled to be completed this year and to open in early 2024, enabling UKRL to maintain a variety of locomotive classes and providing significant extra capacity to expand its maintenance business. The company expects to create 15 skilled jobs.
‘We will be playing our part in developing a more efficient rail network by providing maintenance services for clients where they are needed’, said Manager Director Mark Winter when work was launched with a ceremony on March 15.
Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said ‘this important and innovative engineering company has gone from strength to strength’, since being founded in the city almost 10 years ago, ‘making major local investment, creating new skilled jobs and helping to put our city on the map as a fantastic place to do business’.
GB Railfreight CEO John Smith said ‘for the rail freight sector to grow, we need investments like the one that UKRL are making in Leicester. This state-of-the-art depot will provide a new facility for locomotive maintenance that will improve sustainability and efficiency for freight operators, in addition to driving jobs and growth.’
The project is being financed with a development loan from HSBC UK. The bank’s Area Director Mark Lupton said ‘we are committed to helping local businesses innovate, thrive and grow in their respective sectors’.
