TRAIN TEAM: From left, Stewart Watkins and Simon Goon of Business Durham, plant manager Darren Cumner, MP Phil Wilson and development director Geoff Hunton
HUNDREDS of jobs at a new train building factory will be safe for the rest of the decade after it won a £1.2bn Government contract, rail bosses said today (Thursday, July 18).
Hitachi Rail Europe will build 270 carriages at a new factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, which will start production in 2016.
The deal, which follows an initial order for 596 carriages placed last year, will see the birthplace of the railways once again become a hotbed of train manufacture.
Hitachi said the new express trains, due to enter service on the East Coast Main Line in 2018, offer more comfort as well as better reliability and faster services.
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