Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening wants the new Crossrail fleet to bring jobs and boost business in Britain.
Four bidders have been shortlisted to deliver 60 new trains. Each 200 metre train must be fully air conditioned, provide walk through carriages and carry 1500 passengers.
The four bidders are: CAF, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA of Spain, Hitachi Rail Europe Limited of Japan, Siemens plc of Germany and Bombardier Transportation (UK) Limited of Litchurch Lane, Derby. The contract will be awarded in 2014.
The Secretary of State has let it be known that she is keen to understand and communicate the benefit of this contract to the economy. ‘A number of outcomes from the Government’s review of public procurement have been reflected in this procurement, which could bring opportunities to UK businesses. This includes a ‘responsible procurement’ requirement that means bidders will need to set out how they will engage with the wider supply chain and provide opportunities for training, apprenticeships and for small and medium size businesses within their procurement strategy.’
The requirements follow a review of procurement procedure announced last August by the Government, in the wake of the popular protests that erupted after the Thameslink contract went to Siemens of Germany. The capital cost of new Crossrail rolling stock and depot facilities at old Oak Common is in the region of £1bn. This is the largest single contract that Crossrail will let.
Contract must go to UK company to create jobs in UK. Do the same as France and Germany, there are ways of guiding contracts to where you want them to go. This is not Brussels, it is the UK, must be number 1 choice, no discussion! What dous Paris do?
Totally agree John, France and Germany have been bending these EU rules for years so that only Siemens and Bombardier supply trains in France and Germany. 3 years ago I put the same question to Ed Milliband that why in this country must we spend our money funding trains that create 200 jobs and he gave the typical hide behind EU regulations. I do think however that the train and the supply chain of the train should be brought into account for example in the tendering process companies should have to explain how many companies in there supply chain for the train are UK based firms and how many UK employees will be directly involved in the manufacturer of that train. Still I think the politicians will do the the usual and hire a bunch of consultants and lobbyists who influence and shape and the governement will hide behind the best value line as opposed to we brought this train or this company won the contract because in the supply chain they employ more UK people. Siemens always trot out the we employ 17,000 people in the UK, Bombardier trot out we are in Derby, Hitachi trot out we will build a new factory and CAF in all hoesty shouldnt even be in the running. 1bn is a lot of taxpayers money and what needs to be considered is the Supply Chain into the manufacturer, how many British people they employ and the maintenace contract of the trains and ongoing maintenance. We will watch closely with baited breath, Will this contract be decided before a general election or afterwards?