THE Transport Secretary has said Hitachi should come up with suggestions to plug the gap in its order book and so help the Government prevent the train-building factory in Newton Aycliffe from closing.
In his first interview with The Northern Echo since the crisis broke a couple of months ago, Mark Harper said today on a visit to Darlington: “The ball is in the company’s court to come back to us with some options which we will look at creatively and constructively with a view to finding some solutions.”
The factory has work until at least later this year and then has a contract with Derby train-builder Alstom to build vehicles for HS2, which seems likely to start in 2026. The issue is finding work to fill the gap between the two contracts, with 750 jobs at Aycliffe hanging in the balance.
There had been a suggestion that an extension to Hitachi’s existing contract for Avanti West Coast might be the answer, but Mr Harper said: “It isn’t feasible. The clear advice that I have got is it won’t work, and anybody who says you can just do something with the stroke of a pen is not being honest. If it was as simple as that, of course I would do it, but it isn’t.”
He said there was plenty of future work in the pipeline, with a contract to build 640 vehicles for South Eastern about to be announced, and he said: “There’s a decision for the parent company about the work that is coming, the profitability of it, and what they are prepared to do. We will do our part and the company needs to do its part as well.”
Mr Harper was on a visit to Darlington to see progress on the redevelopment of Bank Top station. He said: “I need (Hitachi) to come with some options, some things we can work on and we will approach that with the appropriate level of creativity and flexibility to try and make it work. The ball is in their court.
“We all want the same thing, for that factory to be protected, for those jobs to be protected, for it to be able to bid for those orders coming down the line.”
However, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who was at the Aycliffe plant with her party leader to launch Labour’s rail nationalisation plans, said Mr Harper’s remarks were “disingenuous”.
“Hitachi has presented options time and time again,” she said. “I think it is constant buck-passing and blaming others when the responsibility absolutely lies with this Government.”
Ms Haigh has previously stated that the prospect of a manufacturing gap at Hitachi could be avoided with “the stroke of a pen” – a phrase which has clearly angered Mr Harper
But she said: “Mark Harper and his department have given such orders in the past for other manufacturers and operators – there is plenty of precedence and there are options available for this Government. It is incumbent on them to take them.”
Later in the day, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer announced his new policy for nationalisation to “fix Britain’s broken railways” at Aycliffe, it included putting an end to the boom-and-bust cycle for rail manufacturers.
He said: “The government needs to step in – we have been talking to the workforce today who are very concerned about the situation, as are we.
“Our frustration is that this is a known problem – this is a problem the government has known about for a very long time, and they have done nothing about it.
“I don’t think that’s going to sit well with the workforce here and their families as well as all the jobs that feed into this and the area which is very proud of Hitachi.
“All this for the government to say, as it always does, ‘not our problem’ and point at someone else. It is not good enough.”
The Northern Echo, which was instrumental in getting the factory set up in Aycliffe nearly 10 years ago, has launched a Back on Track campaign to keep it running, a campaign which has won widespread support, with even former Prime Minister Tony Blair lending his name to it.
The current Sedgefield MP Paul Howell said: “I am working with Hitachi, the unions, the Department for Transport and Ministers to find a way from the current challenges to the substantial orders for rolling stock that are a short time away and this is what needs to remain the focus of all parties.
“The announcements today by the Leader of the Opposition will make no impact on the immediate needs of the workforce at Hitachi, if anything, all it does is show that Labour’s plan is to take us back to the days of British Rail and anyone who can remember the state of the railways then would not want to return.
“It is another example of Labour’s plan to return us back to the 1970s.”
An Hitachi Rail spokesperson said: “The North East skills base and supply chain we have built has delivered social value and levelling-up. Maintaining these benefits is in the national interest.
“Despite the lack of certainty, we remain committed to working with all stakeholders to find a viable way forward for our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe.
“Preserving regional skills and supply chain will allow us to be competitive in future procurements and support British economic growth.”
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