THE controversial decision to award a lucrative train-building contract to German firm Siemens has placed the future of UK-based rail manufacturing in serious jeopardy, the Government will be warned today.
Unions will tell the transport select committee that thousands of jobs were at risk after Derby-based Bombardier missed out on the work to build trains for the Thameslink route.
Around 1,400 jobs will be lost at Bombardier, but unions will warn MPs that another 1,600 jobs will go if the company decides to leave the UK, while up to 12,000 positions in the supply chain will also be at risk.
In written evidence to be submitted to the committee, unions will point out that Britain’s railways are booming, with passenger numbers increasing, trains overcrowded, running late and “completely unsuitable” for some routes.
“Much of the existing rolling stock needs to be replaced and the current pool of vehicles needs to be expanded rapidly to cope with increasing demand. The future of Bombardier’s factory should, therefore, be secure, but it is not,” said the unions.
Unite and the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have warned that scores of firms which deal with Bombardier will be forced to cut jobs, after a study among 125 companies supplying Bombardier found that almost half relied on the firm for 5% of sales, while a similar number relied almost entirely on the manufacturer.
Almost half those surveyed warned of job losses, with some already laying off workers.
A delegation of more than 200 Bombardier workers, Derby councillors and local business leaders will travel on a specially commissioned Bombardier-built train from the East Midlands to London to press the Government to change its decision.
Siemens has promised up to 2,000 new jobs in the UK as a result of it winning the contract, including up to 300 at one of its plants in Hebburn, South Tyneside.
