Derby
City
Council

has
revealed
a
letter
from
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
which
offers
new
hope
for
the
Alstom
works
at
Litchurch
Lane,
where
ten
trains
for
the
Elizabeth
Line
are
now
set
to
be
built,
after
a
proposed
order
for
five
had
been
doubled
to
ten
and
‘approved
in
principle’.

It
is
hoped
that
the
order
for
about
90
cars,
worth
at
least
£200
million,
will
secure
jobs
at
the
site
until
Derby
starts
building
Alstom’s
new
Adessia
commuter
trains,
possibly
for
export
as
well
as
domestic
operators.

Alstom
had
been
considering
closing
Derby
because
it
had
run
out
of
work,
where
there
are
1300
staff
as
well
as
many
more
on
contract.
Thousands
of
jobs
in
supply
chain
companies
were
also
at
risk,
endangering
Derby’s
proud
boast
that
it
has
the
‘biggest
cluster
of
railway
businesses’
in
Europe
at
least,
if
not
the
world.

Rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
wrote
to
the
industry
at
the
end
of
January,
setting
out
plans
for
four
train
orders.
One
of
them,
for
state-owned
Southeastern,
could
be
placed
by
the
end
of
this
year,
but
that
would
not
have
been
soon
enough
to
keep
Litchurch
Lane
in
business
until
then.

Derby
council
leader
Baggu
Shanker
said:
‘Alstom
can
now
commit
to
the
site
in
the
short
and
long
term,
protecting
valuable
manufacturing
and
engineering
jobs
in
our
city.
I’m
especially
pleased
that
Alstom
has
committed
to
basing
the
new
global
Adessia
commuter
train
platform
here
in
Derby
–
that’s
a
real
win.

‘We
will
continue
to
press
the
Government
to
complete
the
deal
and
commit
to
keeping
this
industry
alive
in
the
city,
especially
for
the
1300
jobs
that
are
at
risk.
Without
these
orders
and
the
promise
of
future
support,
we
will
lose
train-making
in
the
UK
forever
and
put
almost
two
centuries
of
local
rail
heritage
at
risk.

‘As
a
city,
we’ll
continue
to
work
closely
with
our
partners
at
Alstom
and
with
the
secretary
of
state
to
bridge
this
gap
and
keep
train
making
in
Derby.
The
Government
needs
to
ensure
rail
procurement
is
better
planned
in
the
future
to
avoid
this
feast
and
famine
approach
to
train
building.’

However,
some
Alstom
workers
remain
to
be
convinced.
Production
manager
and
Unite
rep
Darren
Spencer
told
the
Guardian:
‘I
don’t
think
we’re
there
yet:
if
you
read
the
wording
from
the
government,
there’s
caveats
in
there,
there’s
get
out
of
jail
cards.
We’re
by
no
means
out
of
the
woods
yet.’