Next stop Yorkshire: Local firm picked to build Siemens train factory 

Siemens has picked a Yorkshire construction company to build its new train manufacturing plant in East Riding.

GMI Construction Group beat off competition from larger rivals to secure the £40million contract.

It will build the site, where Siemens will make train carriages for the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground, and nearly three miles of track that will connect the factory with the main network.

Levelling up: Boris Johnson working at the site in East Riding, Yorkshire, where Siemens is building its new factory

Siemens is spending £200million to set up the plant and a ‘village’ surrounding it where it hopes suppliers could move in, creating a 67-acre industrial hub. 

The German group has handed out another £10million of contracts to UK companies – many of them in Yorkshire – and is aiming to have the factory up and running in 2023.

It will have 700 permanent workers and support another 1,700 jobs in the supply chain. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: ‘As Siemens develops the state-of-the-art rail facility, its commitment to invest in local suppliers, boosting jobs and unlocking growth in Yorkshire, is a fantastic example of how we can level up across the country and build back better from the pandemic.’

Northern Powerhouse minister Grant Shapps said: ‘The North is the birthplace of our railways, with a rich history of manufacturing excellence, so it is fitting that the £40million contract to build the train factory has been awarded to a Yorkshire company.’

Siemens also intends to build new trains for the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo and City Line there if deals with Transport for London go ahead. It could also build mainline and intercity trains.

The division of Siemens that will build the Goole plant, Siemens Mobility, already has three factories in the UK.