Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell visited Hitachi Rail’s £82 million train factory in Newton Aycliffe.  Hitachi are building the new ‘Azuma’ fleet for the East Coast main line which is due to begin carrying passengers from Newcastle to London in 2019.  The factory provides jobs for more than 750 permanent staff and has recently seen 50 apprentices graduate.

Hitachi Newton Aycliffe could yet be the home for the construction of the 54- trains for HS2 creating further new jobs and helping with the UK’s skills shortage by training engineers and promoting apprenticeships.

Alan Campbell MP said: “Hitachi Rail is a global transport specialist with over 100 years of experience in designing and building pioneering trains, offering quality maintenance and developing innovative new technology.  They are providing investment in high skill jobs and apprenticeships which are very much needed in our region. This will also benefit the economy of the region as a whole, bringing more work for the supply chain. 95% of the people come from the area, whilst 70% of parts fitted to trains at the factory come from within 40 miles of the factory.”

“I hope that when new trains are needed in our region and beyond particular attention is given to supporting trains and jobs in our region.”