Hitachi reviews 'all options' over train orders gap

Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe factory opened in 2015

Hitachi Rail is reviewing "all remaining options" after it said no solution was found to plug a gap in train orders.

Current contracts at its plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, are set to decline by October, with no new work in the short term, according to Unite.

Hitachi said it had been in talks with government for two years, but "disappointingly" they had not resulted in a "positive resolution".

The Department for Transport said it was working with all rolling stock manufacturers on the future pipeline of orders.

A spokesperson for the department said "the government is committed to supporting the entire sector" and expects orders to help it "remain strong in the coming years".

'Feast and famine'

Newton Aycliffe factory opened in 2015 and employs about 700 people.

Unite has urged ministers to extend the plant's West Coast Railway contract "immediately" to safeguard jobs.

The union's general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Ministers talk a good game about levelling up.

"The fact is, however, that at both Hitachi in Newton Aycliffe and Alstom in Debry, workers are in disbelief that ministerial incompetence is delaying announcements that would safeguard highly skilled jobs."

Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, called for procurements to be organised so that "there's enough of them and they're spaced out enough".

"It is a sign of the feast and famine in British rolling stock market," Mr Murison said.

He added: "I think that's a sign that the government, over many ministers - it's not the current minister's fault - have just not thought strategically enough about the UK rolling stock market."

Hitachi was one of the three finalists to supply the new Tyne and Wear Metro trains, but failed to win the order.

The contract was awarded to Swiss train builder Stadler.