HITACHI has made the shortlist for a £500m contract to design, build and maintain a new fleet of trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Nexus, the public body which owns and manages Metro, yesterday announced five bidders selected for detailed negotiations before a preferred bidder is selected by the end of next year.

The first new trains will be delivered two years after that– to serve a network which carries more than 36 million passengers, connecting Sunderland, Newcastle and surrounding communities across the North East.

A spokesperson for Hitachi, which employs more than 1,000 staff at its manufacturing facility on Aycliffe Business Park, said: “We are delighted to make the shortlist to build new trains for the Tyne and Wear metro.

"We are working hard to show our bid can deliver a truly world class metro fleet as part of a very competitive procurement process.

“As part of the manufacturing process our Newton Aycliffe factory will be used.”

The news was welcomed by politicians in the region.

“It would be great to have trains built in the North East for the North East,” said Phil Wilson MP for Sedgefield.

And Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen tweeted: “Congratulations and good luck, @HitachiRailEU. Let’s keep train-building in the region and safeguard top quality jobs in our area. I hope they get this contract, and the £3bn HS2 one too.”

Nexus has secured Government grant funding of £337m towards the projected £362m cost of a new train fleet– which with ongoing maintenance for 35 years makes the contract worth about £500m.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The Tyne and Wear Metro has been an essential part of the public transport network in the North East for 40 years. That is why the Government is committed to investing nearly £340 million to upgrade the fleet and secure its future for decades to come.“We are committed to the Northern Powerhouse and northern investment. In the five years up to 2020, we will have spent £13 billion improving and modernising transport in the region– a record level of investment.

“We are also investing £3 billion to upgrade the TransPennine route and are proving an extra 500 carriages with space for 40,000 extra passengers and 2,000 additional services each week across the north.”

Tobyn Hughes, the managing director of Nexus, said: “Our investment in new trains will transform passengers’ experience of the Tyne and Wear Metro.

“We have issued an invitation to negotiate to five bidders who, between them, are building trains for many of the world’s biggest cities and rail networks.

“This marks an important milestone as we work with them to provide an excellent Metro for North East England for decades to come.”

Also on the shortlist are Bombardier Transportation UK, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd – a joint venture between Downer EDI Rail and CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd and Stadler Bussnang AG.

The North East LEP will hold a supply chain event this autumn for the five bidders to meet companies from the North East which they could work with on the construction and maintenance of both trains and a depot at Gosforth, Newacstle, in the years ahead.