JUST as one of our industrial icons dies, another comes back from the dead.

It is tragic that we can no longer call ourselves an iron and steelmaking region, but we can at least boast that we build trains.

Or should that be ‘assemble’ trains.

Cynics have said that because for the time being carriage shells are shipped from Hitachi’s plant in Kasado in Japan to be fitted out in County Durham, the workers at its £82m Aycliffe factory are merely part of an unskilled assembly line. This does the plant – or rail vehicle manufacturing facility to give it its full name – and the skilled workers employed there a great disservice.

I have spoken to senior people at Hitachi and they have a long term plan for Aycliffe, which includes developing on site research and development, bidding for contracts across Europe, and creating even more jobs well into the next decade.

We have seen scores of foreign investors arrive in our region to a great fanfare only to hit a bum note, so it is understandable that we are circumspect when another opens with bold promises.

But there are also hundreds that have thrived here. For example, there are now more than 50 businesses in the North-East with Japanese owners or parent companies.

In 1983, Nissan became the first Japanese car-maker to build a new plant in Europe. The opening of the factory in Sunderland became the catalyst for supply chain firms to set up shop across the region - providing work for thousands. Tomorrow Nissan will unveil its latest vote of confidence in the North-East as production of the Infiniti Q30 begins in Sunderland, supporting 300 jobs and taking the company’s Wearside workforce to more than 6,500.

Some people say that Hitachi has the potential to be another Nissan in terms of its impact on North-East jobs and investment. It is far too early to make those comparisons. But the first pictures of production taking place on new train carriages offers a much-needed filip to the region’s manufacturing industry following the succession of job losses following SSI’s demise.

There is a lot to be angry about. Hundreds of people face a Christmas without work. But the return of train, building, manufacture, assembly – call it what you like, is worth celebrating.

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