A MULTI-BILLION pound project to build the next generation of high-speed intercity trains in the North-East has moved a step closer, The Northern Echo can reveal.

A team of archaeologists will next week start digging on the site of the Hitachi train plant and on-site rail system in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, which will create about 730 jobs and open in 2015.

Experts from Carlisle-based Wardell Armstrong Archaeology will move on to farmland at the Amazon Park site on Monday.

Construction of the factory will start in November.

Last July, Hitachi confirmed it would build a factory in Aycliffe after winning a £4.5bn order from the Department for Transport to build high-speed trains, including an initial 596 carriages for the Intercity Express Programme (IEP).

Bosses at the Japanese firm previously refused to rule out bidding for a deal to build 220mph locos for the Government's new £32bn HS2 high speed rail link, which will run between London and the North from 2033 and serve the North-East and Scotland by switching to the slower East Coast Main Line after Church Fenton, near York.

If the company won the contract, which would be the UK's largest new trains package, it would see engines built at the Aycliffe plant for the national development, and the firm is also bidding for contracts across Europe and hopes to supply the £14.8bn 73-mile Crossrail project, linking west and east London.

Archaeologists from Wardell Armstrong say they could find Iron Age and Roman remains during the dig, which is expected to take about 18 weeks.

Frank Giecco, lead archaeologist, said the process was part of every major development.

He said: “There is high potential that we will find remains of late Iron Age and Romano-British farm steads, and with any luck, we will be able to document life at Newton Aycliffe as it was over a 3,000-year period.

“Conducting the excavation before any construction work has started helps to ensure that archaeological finds are properly and professionally identified and recorded.”

Hitachi says since signing the IEP contract with the Government, it has been working hard behind the scenes with Newcastle-based developers Merchant Place Developments (MPD), which owns the Amazon Park site and adjacent land.

It previously revealed about six senior managers will join the project, as well as a 12-strong team of specialists from Japan.

Geoff Hunton, MPD director, said: “After all of the celebration last year, this is the reality and everything is going to plan. “We have said all along that we hope to employ as many local workers as possible and that remains the case.”

Contractors are expected on site in November to start building the plant and rail track, ahead of a 21-month construction phase.

Mr Hunton revealed about 30 companies are bidding for the work, and will narrow the field down to a shortlist before inviting detailed tenders in the summer.