Derby-based train maker Bombardier has won a £1bn contract to supply trains to the London Crossrail project, the Government has confirmed.
Bombardier beat out opposition from Japan’s Hitachi and Spanish firm CAF to land the contract which will see the company provide 65 trains for the London-based Crossrail service, which is set to open in 2018.
Bombardier lost out to Germany’s Siemens in 2011 for a £1.6bn deal to provide trains for the north-south Thameslink scheme.
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The Crossrail system is due to run from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport in the west, to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east.
It will aim to provide faster journey times and up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak.
Unite national officer Julia Long told Sky news that: “After the disastrous handling of the Thameslink contract this news must come as a massive relief for the skilled men and women at Bombardier.
London mayor Boris Johnson said: “The Crossrail project is now rolling on full-steam ahead.
“The manufacture of these new trains will not only revolutionise rail travel in London, they will deliver jobs and economic growth in their birthplace in Derby and across the UK.
“With a firm on board to deliver a fleet of 21st century trains and the tunnelling more than halfway complete, we’re on track to deliver a truly world-class railway for the capital.”
The news comes as London struggles to cope due to a 48-hour strike by union workers on the Underground network.
