Rail operator KeolisAmey to create 130 jobs with Wales move

A Metro light rail electric/diesel train at the proposed new The Flourish stop in Cardiff Bay

The company set to run trains in Wales will move its UK and global rail headquarters to the country, it has announced.

KeolisAmey will move staff from London in 2019 and from Paris the following year and take on 130 new employees.

These are on top of the 600 new workers it vowed to recruit on Monday.

The company was awarded the £5bn contract to operate Wales and Borders rail services in May and promised to spend £800m on new trains.

A French-Spanish joint venture, the company will take over operations from Arriva Trains Wales for the next 15 years from October.

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As well as running services on Wales and border routes, it will develop the new Metro system in south Wales.

KeolisAmey already runs Greater Manchester Metrolink and London's Docklands Light Railway, among others.

The exact location of where it will be based in Wales has not yet been disclosed.

Amey will open a new design hub in Cardiff employing at least 50 staff, where it will offer consultancy services.

A further 44 jobs will also be created at a centre which will provide services to Keolis and Amey businesses.

Keolis UK chief executive Alistair Gordon said: "Being selected as Transport for Wales' partner for the next 15 years means that we'll be a part of the fabric of Wales for almost a generation.

"Moving our headquarters here underlines our commitment and embeds us within the communities we'll be serving."

Keolis UK will open the UK headquarters by 2019 and move the global rail division from Paris by 2020.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates called it a "real coup" for Wales.