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Rail factory will give town a 'bright future'

Pritti Mistry/BBC A woman is wearing a black Siemens' t-shirt with an orange hi-vis vest on and with a black Siemens' cap. She is smiling at the camera in front of a tube carriage that she is working on.Pritti Mistry/BBC
Second-year apprentice Jade Anderton says she is "excited" about her role at the facility

A multimillion-pound rail factory creating 700 jobs is set to give an East Yorkshire town a "bright future for the next 60 years", bosses have said.

Siemens said the production of commuter trains for UK operators, including Transport for London, was already under way at its Goole facility.

The site, near the M62, has been officially opened by Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during an event on Thursday.

Haigh described the facility, which forms part of the town's £200m rail village, as "impressive" and "world-class", adding it will "provide a boost to the region’s economy".

Pritti Mistry/BBC A view inside the factory. A ramp leading down to the main floor has yellow rails either side. To the left is a red, white and blue tube carriage propped up on a stand and three workers wearing orange hi-vis vests are talking in the background.Pritti Mistry/BBC
The facility in Goole is expected to create up to 700 jobs

Work on assembling the first 10 trains for London Underground's Piccadilly Line began in March and are expected to be in service from 2025.

Sambit Banerjee, joint chief executive of Siemens Mobility, said there was a "lot of excitement" as he expected the plant would create "long-term sustainability and employability", enabling Goole to have a "bright future for the next 60 years".

"We’ll assemble 80% of London's new Piccadilly line trains and all future Siemens' trains for the UK, including our Verve battery train, here in Goole and I’m pleased that we are supporting the local supply chain in the process."

Pritti Mistry/BBC Mr Banerjee wearing an orange high-vis vest and a black cap with Siemens on it. His left hand is holding on to the doorframe of a tube trainPritti Mistry/BBC
Sambit Banerjee said the company's investment in the town included apprenticeship schemes and working education and training in local schools

On top of the predicted 700 jobs, about 2,500 are expected to be created in the supply chain.

Mr Banerjee also announced the creation of a further 300 posts in subsequent years, with an additional £40m being pumped into the rail village for another assembly, logistics and service centre.

Pritti Mistry/BBC Sadiq and Louise are standing inside an unfinished tube train carriage. Sadiq is on the left and he is wearing an orange high-vis vest and a navy cap with Siemens on it. He has his right-hand raised and is looking forward. Louise is standing on the right at an angle facing Sadiq. She is also wearing an orange high-vis vest and a navy cap with Siemens on it. Both her hands are clasped together at the waistPritti Mistry/BBC
The facility has been operational since March but was officially opened by Ms Haigh and Mr Khan on Thursday

Second-year apprentice Jade Anderton, 23, from Doncaster, said an apprenticeship seemed the perfect choice for her next career move after spending five years in the navy.

"It’s quite cool to be working on one of these cars and seeing the future," she said.

"It’s all new, so we are all growing together and in the same situation, which is nice. By the end of next year I hope to be a fully qualified fitter working on these cars."

Finbarr Dowling, head of localisation at Siemens, said the facility was "much more than assembling world-class trains" with long-term benefits to the town's economy and infrastructure including plans for a new hotel.

"What we'd hope is that the Siemens' investment here has brought an economic benefit, whether it's the use of local accommodation, local hotels or restaurants," he said.

Pritti Mistry/BBC Natalie is wearing an orange hi-vis vest and a black Siemens' cap over her long blonde hair. She is smiling at the camera on the factory floorPritti Mistry/BBC
Natalie Thornton hopes Goole will see similar benefits as that seen in Hull via Siemens' turbine blade factory

Operations support manager Natalie Thornton, 53, from Hull, started her engineering career as an apprentice with BAE Systems and joined Siemens after she was made redundant.

Ms Thornton said the new facility had "brought hope to this area" and was expecting to see similar employment and economic benefits achieved in Hull via a turbine blade factory.

"It feels like it's an underdog part of the world here. I sometimes feel we're left behind in certain things.

"There's a lot of educated, skilled people in this area that need an opportunity and Siemens have given that."

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