Train contract will create 900 jobs

By Mark Fordham

More than 900 jobs are expected to be made available as part of a £4.5 billion contract to build and maintain new inner-city trains.

The Department for Transport has said that new maintenance depots will be built in Bristol, Swansea and Doncaster.

Agility Trains, a consortium made up of Hitachi and John Laing, stated it will also be constructing a new factory in County Durham as part of the project.

The government has been in negotiations about the details since Agility was confirmed as the preferred bidder in 2009.

It is expected that 92 new trains will be running on the East Coast main line in 2018 and Great Western main line a year earlier.

This follows the announcement of a £9 billion investment in the rail system in England and Wales earlier this month.

"The decision to build new intercity train carriages is great for rail passengers who will experience faster and more comfortable journeys when travelling across Britain on the East Coast and Great Western main lines," transport secretary Justine Greening commented.