The
warnings
are
getting
louder



(writes
Sim
Harris).

Alstom’s
managing
director
for
its
works
at
Litchurch
Lane
Derby
has
said
that
‘time
is
short’,
after
production
of
the
order
for
Arterio
units
for
South
Western
Railway
came
to
an
end.

Bombardier’s
name
for
this
fleet
was
Aventra,
but
SWR
rechristened
its
new
trains,
while
Bombardier
itself
is
now
part
of
history,
because
it
was
taken
over
by
Alstom
in
2021.

As
things
stand,
there
appears
to
be
a
real
risk
that
Alstom
Derby
will
soon
become
part
of
history
too,
although
there
may
some
comfort
to
be
taken
from
a
letter
written
by
rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
at
the
end
of
January,
in
which
he
outlined
plans
for
orders
from
four
operators,
three
of
which
are
nationalised.

Nick
Crossfield
at
Alstom
has
not
given
up
hope.
Litchurch
Lane
is
the
largest
installation
in
his
area
as
managing
director
for
the
UK
and
Ireland,
and
Alstom
itself
is
plainly
reluctant
to
bring
down
the
axe
on
Britain’s
last
remaining
traditional
train
building
‘factory’.

Speaking
to
the
BBC
before
the
weekend,
Mr
Crossfield
said:
‘We’re
coming
to
the
end
of
a
very
large
programme
that
we’ve
delivered
over
the
past
four
years.
New
build
is
in
the
process
of
ending
right
now.
Between
now
and
May-June
time,
we
will
effectively
go
down
to
a
position
where
there
is
very
little
or
no
activity
in
what
is
one
of
the
group’s
largest
facilities
worldwide.

‘We’ve
been
in
discussions
with
the
Government
now
for
around
10
to
11
months
and
we’ve
been
exploring
with
the
Government
the
possibility
of
bringing
work
into
the
facility
for
the
next
18
months.
The
market
is
there
in
the
medium
to
long
term.
What
we’re
talking
about
is
covering
a
gap
of
around
18
to
19
months.

‘We’ve
been
talking
to
the
Government
specifically
about
accelerating
future
projects
and
refurbishment
projects
into
the
facility
that
would
allow
us
to
maintain
that
capability,
and
when
the
market
comes
back
and
the
volume
starts
to
return,
we
can
re-mobilise.
But
we’ve
been
at
this
now
for
11
months
and
we’re
here
at
this
point
in
time
with
no
firm
commitment.

‘As
we
sit
today,
we
don’t
have
enough
of
a
commitment
to
guarantee
that
we
will
maintain
a
presence
in
the
UK
at
Derby.
We’ve
got
some
very
specific
proposals
which
we’ve
suggested
to
the
Government
that
would
work
for
us.
But
we
do
need
a
decision,
we
need
a
clear
commitment
that
this
volume
will
come.

‘They’ve
been
collaborative
discussions,
they’ve
been
very
detailed
discussions.
We’ve
provided
the
Government
with
a
great
degree
of
information
and
the
rationale
for
why
it
makes
sense
to
do
these
things.
But
unfortunately
we
are
here
with
no
decision.
It’s
a
straight
business
decision
we
do
not
have
today
the
commitment
that
would
allow
us
to
take
the
decision
to
remain.’

Meanwhile,
if
only
the
next
18
months
can
be
covered,
then
Adessia
could
come
to
the
rescue.

Adessia
is
Alstom’s
name
for
its
next
generation
of
commuter
trains,
and
Derby
could
be
a
lead
contender
to
built
these
future
fleets,
partly
because
it
has
been
a
specialist
in
building
aluminium-bodied
trains
for
more
than
20
years.

Commuter
or
shorter
range
trains
have
been
Derby’s
salvation
before.
At
the
start
of
this
century
Litchurch
Lane
won
large
orders
for
its
Electrostar
model,
which
replaced
the
majority
of
the
ex-British
Rail
slam
door
fleets
on
the
third
rail
network
south
of
London,
and
also
on
the
London,
Tilbury
and
Southend
line.
In
May
2014,
the
Derby
workforce
helped
to
celebrate
the
delivery
of
the
1000th
Electrostar
vehicle
for
Southern
alone.
The
model
was
so
successful
that
one
batch
was
exported
to
South
Africa
for
the
line
to
Johannesburg
airport.

Electrostar’s
successor
was
the
Aventra,
and
one
major
order
came
in
for
Crossrail,
as
the
Elizabeth
line
was
known
during
the
construction
period.
Other
customers
have
included
London
Overground,
Greater
Anglia
and,
as
we
have
said,
South
Western
Railway.

Alstom
is
permitting
itself
a
moderate
degree
of
optimism.
The
company
says:
‘Adessia
will
be
Alstom’s
next
generation
of
commuter
train,
and
it
is
a
huge
opportunity
for
Derby
and
the
wider
UK
rail
sector.
We
are
continuing
to
hold
very
constructive
discussions
with
the
Department
for
Transport
to
find
a
sustainable
future
for
Derby,
but
time
is
short
as
our
current
projects
are
almost
complete.

‘We
are
committed
to
working
with
the
Government
to
create
the
certainty
our
staff
and
UK
suppliers
need
and
deserve.’

The
Department
for
Transport
said:
‘Rail
manufacturing
plays
an
important
role
in
growing
the
UK
economy
and
delivering
better
services
for
passengers.
The
Government
is
committed
to
supporting
the
entire
sector
and
we
remain
in
close
contact
with
Alstom
to
secure
a
sustainable
future
for
rail
manufacturing
at
Derby.’

But
the
lack
of
new
train
orders
is
not
only
affecting
Derby.

The
Hitachi
plant
at
Newton
Aycliffe,
which
was
set
up
in
2015
to
build
the
Class
80x
Intercity
Expresses,
is
also
running
out
of
work,
although
it
was
so
busy
a
few
years
ago
that
Class
802s
for
GWR
had
to
be
built
in
Italy
instead.

Reports
this
morning
say
that
‘serious
concerns’
have
been
voiced
over
the
future
of
the
Newton
Aycliffe
plant,
in
spite
of
two
years
of
talks
with
Government.
The
factory
is
currently
building
its
final
trains
for
Avanti
West
Coast
and
East
Midlands
Railway,
but
there
is
nothing
definite
to
follow.

Hitachi
said:
‘We
have
been
engaged
in
discussions
at
all
levels
of
UK
government
for
two
years
in
an
attempt
to
find
a
solution
to
the
production
gap
at
our
Newton
Aycliffe
manufacturing
facility.
Disappointingly
these
discussions
have
not
resulted
in
a
positive
resolution.

‘We
are
now
reviewing
all
remaining
options
available
to
us
in
order
to
keep
our
manufacturing
teams
building
rolling
stock
to
support
the
UK
rail
industry.’