The Northern Echo
Friday 12th February 2010
By Mark Tallentire
UP to 1,000 jobs could be created under a multi-billion pound deal to build highspeed trains in the North- East, The Northern Echo can reveal.
Business chiefs hope to convince Agility Trains to build the next generation of 1,400 trains for the East Coast Main Line at the £1bn Durham Green Business Park, near Bowburn, County Durham.
Talks have begun and an announcement could come soon.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has made Agility Trains – an Hitachi-led consortium – its preferred bidder for the Intercity Express programme, but an outright winner is yet to be announced.
Agility is said to have considered construction at Doncaster, Sheffield, Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, and the former Tyne Marshalling Yards, in Lamesley, Gateshead, while industry insiders have poured cold water on the Durham Green bid.
However, David Abrahams, who has fronted the business park project, said: “This site has got everything Hitachi needs. It’s close to the A1, it’s got a mile-long test track and it’s got a spur onto the East Coast Main Line.
“It’s the only site on the London to Edinburgh line to meet Hitachi’s requirements and it could be built as cheaply as possible.”
Mr Abrahams made the headlines in November 2007, for making donations of more than £650,000 to the Labour Party using other people’s names. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Yesterday, it was announced he was selling the 540-acre site to First Industrial Developments (FID).
Matthew Byrom, FID managing director, said: “We believe the park’s direct connectivity onto the East Coast Main Line will be of particular interest to the larger national occupier.”
If Durham Green won the Agility Trains contract, backers say it would attract many other businesses to the site, which could create up to 7,000 jobs. Rolls-Royce and Next have been linked with the development.
It would also be hugely symbolic, with train construction returning to the North-East, the home of the railway.
An Agility Trains spokeswoman said the consortium was extremely pleased to be the DfT’s preferred bidder and contract negotiations were ongoing. However, she could not comment on possible construction sites.
A DfT spokesman said the department hoped to make an announcement on the contract soon.
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