Train maker Bombardier, which recently missed out on the £1.4bn Thameslink contract, has said it plans to cut more than 1,400 jobs at its Derby plant. Last month, the company lost out to German group Siemens as the preferred bidder to build 1,200 carriages for the route between Bedford and Brighton. Unions and opposition politicians have called for the government to review its decision to choose Siemens. But Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said that this was not possible. Bombardier said that there was not enough future work to keep its Derby facility, which employ 3,000 people, operating at current levels. It plans to cut 446 permanent jobs and 983 temporary contract staff, and has launched a 90-day consultation process. The company said that by the end of September, it would have completed work on two major contracts and would only have work remaining on one more. "The culmination and successful delivery of these projects and the loss of the Thameslink contract, which would have secured workload at this site, means that it is inevitable that we must adjust capacity in line with economic reality," said Francis Paonessa, president of the passengers division for Bombardier in the UK. "We regret this outcome but without new orders we cannot maintain the current level of employment and activity at Derby." 'Value for money' Securing the Thameslink contract was regarded as crucial for Derby's Litchurch Lane plant - the UK's last rolling stock manufacturer. However, in a letter written to the government before it chose its preferred bidder, Bombardier had said that even if it had won the Thameslink work, it would still have had to lay off 1,200 workers in Derby as it adjusted to finishing other major contracts. A spokesman for the Department for Transport said any job losses were "highly regrettable". "Both [Thameslink] bids were considered very carefully and the evaluation concluded that the Siemens bid represented the best value for money," the spokesman said. "However, going forward, we recognise that there is a need to examine the wider issue of whether the UK is making best use of the application of the EU procurement rules." While Bombardier is laying off staff, Siemens has said that it will create 2,000 jobs across the UK as a result of effectively winning the Thameslink contract. However, Siemens will build the trains in Germany and only 300 of the UK jobs it creates will be directly employed manufacturing posts, at a factory in Hebburn, South Tyneside. Siemens already employs about 16,000 people in the UK. Union pressure Shadow business secretary John Denham and shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle have written to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to review the decision. But Transport Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC it was not possible to review the bidding process. His only option would be to cancel the whole Thameslink project, which was already 16 years behind schedule. After Bombardier lost out on the contract, the union Unite pledged to put pressure on the firm and the government to keep the factory open. Mark Young, co-ordinating officer of Unite, said: "The country that invented the railways is at risk of losing its ability to manufacture trains unless the government urgently rethinks its decision to award preferred bidder status to Siemens instead of Bombardier. "The government can reverse this decision and get UK train manufacturing back on track. "It is simply unsustainable for the government to claim to support UK manufacturing with one hand and then with the other hand take decisions which potentially wipe out an entire manufacturing sector." Source:- BBC News
Just like lots of changes make me sad, I find this very sad. Over the years I've enjoyed some great times with some great 'railway people' at Derby. Railway and train building work has been going on at Litchurch Lane, Derby since 1840. There's been plenty of changes and plenty of different owners even during my time. Bombardier is a Canadian company with the UK part now located at the Litchurch Lane works. There are now no other 'train' makers in UK. The old British Railways Board built The Railway Technical Centre in London Road, Derby in the 1960's. British Rail Research headquartered itself there and had some wonderful workshops and Labs at the Litchurch Lane site. Most of the huge engineering workshop site came under British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) which also had its headquarters in the Railway Technical Centre. BREL eventually got bought by ABB (Asea Brown Boveri), which later became Adtranz (ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation), and then came Bombardier Transportation. After a little bit of historical reminiscing now comes the rant. It seems that the nation that invented, developed and spread railway transportation around the world will have nothing more to give. It's very strange to me how French Railways always seem to support French builders, how German Railways do the same, and the Spanish, Italian ......etc manage to support their own too. How? Rant over.
