Hitachi opens £82M Newton Aycliffe train factory

Hitachi officially opens its landmark £82M factory in Newton Aycliffe today, saying it aims to ‘bring train building back home.’

Over 700 jobs will be created at the factory, with thousands more across the supply chain.

The Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chancellor George Osborne will visit the new facility today to officially mark its opening.

The train manufacturing facility will build 110 class 800 trains, designed by Hitachi specifically for the government’s £5.7Bn InterCity Express Programme (IEP).

Most of the 866 carriage fleet will be manufactured at Newton Aycliffe factory, with most of the workforce coming from within a 50-mile radius of the site.

The Newton Aycliffe factory will also manufacture 63 AT200 Abellio/ Scotrail commuter trains to run on Scotland’s busiest route, the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line by 2017, and will also be used on the Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane service and on south Glasgow suburban routes.

The opening of the development is the culmination of a six-year campaign to bring the factory to the region. Sedgefield Labour MP Phil Wilson, who helped lead the campaign, commented: “It’s been a hard slog. At one point, we thought it wasn’t going to happen.

“There will be 730 jobs initially – but if Hitachi continues to win contracts and export to Europe, that figure will only rise.

“Hitachi Rail Europe is called that for a reason, they want to export trains to the rest of Europe; that’s why it is important we remain part of the EU, because so many jobs in the area will be dependent on it.

“I’m optimistic about the potential for growth in jobs especially, and I’ll work with Hitachi to ensure we win as many contracts as possible. If Hitachi wins the contract for HS2 rolling stock at £8Bn, it will be massive.

“This is bringing train building back home – literally. This month it’s 190 years since John Stephenson assembled Locomotion Number 1; the pub made up of the old ticket office and waiting room is on the corner of the factory site.”

The opening of the facility is another welcome boost to the North East, which earlier today received the news that Nissan is investing £100M in its Sunderland car manufacturing plant to build the next generation of its Juke model.

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