Unions condemn giving Spain £490m UK train contract as a 'kick in the teeth'

RMT general secretary Mick Cash criticises Arriva’s decision to give contract to overseas company instead of to British train manufacturer Bombardier

 

Arriva said the CAF contract was the best value for passengers in the north of England. Photograph: Phil Noble/PA

Press Association

Saturday 23 January 2016 

Unions say a decision to give a Spanish company a £490m contract to build trains for the UK railways is a “kick in the teeth”.

Bombardier’s Derby operation was reportedly bidding for the deal to provide 281 vehicles for Arriva Rail North but has lost out to rolling stock manufacturer CAF.

The Spanish company is expected to submit tenders for other UK contracts including the High Speed 2 rail link between London and the north.

Arriva said the 100mph trains will transform travel for passengers in the north of England and insisted the CAF contract was the best value. The new fleet of electric and diesel trains will replace the “outdated, unpopular” Pacers currently in use, the company said.

Mick Cash, the RMT general secretary, criticised the decision to send the contract overseas. “This is yet another kick in the teeth to train building, in the nation that gave the railways to the world,” he told the Mirror.

“At a time when manufacturing jobs and the steel industry in Britain are under the cosh it is nothing short of scandalous that this contract has been sent overseas.”

An Arriva spokesman told the Mirror: “CAF provided the best value-for-money offer in response to our requirements.”

Transport minister Andrew Jones said: “Thanks to our record investment, more than 2,000 carriages are being built in British factories. The state-of-the-art trains Arriva are providing will improve journeys across the north, which has suffered from worn-out rolling stock for too long.”