Transport secretary Louise Haigh is reported to have intervened in the crisis at Hitachi’s train-building plant in Newton Aycliffe, which is endangered by a lack of orders.

A similar problem had occurred at Alstom’s works in Litchurch Lane Derby, but a new order for 10 Elizabeth Line trains worth £370 million has saved the Derby plant, at least for now.

Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham was opened in 2015 to assemble Intercity Expresses which have since been delivered to GWR and LNER. The Hitachi plant was so busy for a while that an additional batch of Class 802 Intercity Expresses for GWR had to be built by Hitachi in Italy.

Newton Aycliffe is now completing orders for Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway, but there is nothing further in prospect for its 700 staff until Newton Aycliffe plays a part in building trains for HS2.

In a letter to MPs in the region quoted by the Northern Echo, Ms Haigh said: ‘I share your concerns about the current production gap and the impact this could have on the workforce at the site and the local supply chain.

‘I was clear before the election that there must be an end to the assumed boom and bust in rail manufacturing and I am committed to producing an industrial strategy for the sector which flattens the order curve and delivers the stability necessary to support job skills and the wider supply chain.

‘Upon taking office one of my first requests was to see the options to address the production gap at Newton Aycliffe and on July 24 I met with Hitachi and officials to kick start a process of work on those options.’

She added that her officials were now working on a ‘suite of potential options’ to keep Newton Aycliffe in business. She continued: ‘Officials have confirmed to me that they will engage as appropriate with all stakeholders, including the train operators and the owners of the relevant rolling stock.’