Posted 23rd July 2011 | 9 Comments

Derby sounds note of defiance over Thameslink order

THOUSANDS of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Derby today in a bid to overturn the government's decision to award the £1.4 billion Thameslink rolling stock contract to Siemens, which has put up to 20,000 jobs at risk in Britain, it is claimed.

Speakers at today's rally included MP Margaret Beckett, RMT leader Bob Crow and the UK chief of Bombardier, Colin Walton.

Mr Walton, who was the first speaker, surprised his audience by his firm stance, telling them that he and his management team would do all it could to have the decision looked at again.

In an interview for Railnews, he declined to commit Bombardier to a formal challenge, but said that "all options were being considered".

Mrs Beckett, who is the MP for Derby South, said the decision was wrong. She told the rally: "We are not giving up; we are not going away; we know we are right."

She told Railnews: "All that stands in the way is the political will. I was not surprised at the original decision, but I was very angry."

The transport secretary Philip Hammond has continued to maintain that he had no choice, but although Parliament has now gone into summer recess his critics are warning that the issue will not go away.

The status of Siemens is now that of preferred bidder: it is due to sign the contract by the end of this year.

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Andrew Kinge, Brisbane, Australia

    In the light of the recent riots in the UK do any of the tough luck Derby thats just so called "fair competition" contributors have anything to say ? Can any of you join the dots between rampant economic liberalism and the riots ? If Derby closes then a generation of children are going to see their mothers and fathers unemployed with little or no hope of gaining skilled employment, they will see constant bombardment of false advertising showing a lifestyle that they can neither acheive or aspire to and so will eventually resort to criminality. The UK GOVT has in its powers the ability to stop this contract going abroad and give hope to a community which unlike industries in the 70s is not producing a poor product or a hotbed of industrial unrest and so give hope to and a future to Derby.

  • Andrew Kinge, Brisbane, Australia

    There is nothing wrong with competition and indeed foreign investment and I stress Bombardier is a foreign owned company. What is wrong and as my post makes the point is that there is plainly not a level playing field in Europe. Each government seeks to protect or use other means to deny competition in its own markets often in flagrant breach of EU rules therefore its not "swings and roundabouts" and I am sure the good people of Derby would appreciate you telling them "shame you lost your jobs but never mind something else will come along". The UK is not xenophobic or full of "Little Englanders" but certain countries in Europe are xenophobic and protectionist. As for being impovished well the UK currently has the second largest trade deficit in the world (including services) and the potential closure of Derby is not going to improve matters since we will soon have to import our trains. This trade deficit is paid for by selling pounds and assets or borrowing and when there is nothing left to sell or no one will lend us money ? starting to sound a bit like Greece ? So its not a case of where at the moment but more of a case of when and as for Japan which I admit has not exactly performed well over the past 20 years but I don't see them allowing Sony, Hitachi, Mitsibushi, or Toyota to be taken over as they see these businesses as being vital to their national wealth.

  • Stephen, London, UK

    How many people do EDF employ in the UK? How many people do siemens emplyee in the UK? How many people do DHL employee in the UK? Etc etc. Who cares where the company started or head office is most of the jobs are still retained as the market is in this country. How many people do BAE, Rolls Royce employ in the the UK and world wide? Etc etc. Swings and roundabouts. Improverished islands, wheres that? Greece perhaps? How many foriegn companies are in Japan? How has there economy faired in the last 20 years? Diversity leads to inovation and competition.

  • Rob, Nottingham, UK

    It's not a "fair competition." The Germans always buy from a Germany based company. The French always buy from a France based company. The Japanese, the Americans are the same, even the Spanish and the Italians to a lesser extent.

    It's not a level playing field and without a few home orders every few years (the last contact was 2007, the last big contact was 2004) a company cannot survive in this business.

  • Andrew Kinge, Brisbane, Australia, Prev Winchester, Hampshire

    Marcus, In reply to your comment yes fair competition a great idea but tell me, how many people in France buy their electricty or gas from a British company ? none - yet millions of people in the UK buy their electricity from EDF. How many trains do Deustche Bahn buy from abroad ? none - yet there are hundreds of trains made by Siemens in use in the UK. How many letters do the Post Office deliver in Germany ? none yet via DHL Deustche Post deliver millions in the UK. How many train operating companies that are foreign owned running in Germany ? answer none, yet Deustche Bahn recently bought Arriva, and own Chiltern Railways + DB Schenker. How many power stations are British owned in France ? - none, yet GDF Suez via International Power and EDF own a huge slice of Britains power generation capacity. How many residential customers do BT have in France ? none - yet Orange owned by France Telecom have millions of customers in the UK. The list is endless so ask yourself the question who who are the xenophobicis in Europe because it certainly isn't the British, but heah if you are happy living in an impoverished island with millions out of work and vast swathes of the country controlled by foreign nationals with no real interest other than making money just so no one be called "Little Englanders" then thats just fine.

  • Marcus, Reading, UK

    What's the point of having a fair competition, when folk complain when they lose?
    Siemans had the better product, the people that I really feel sorry for are the passengers on Crossrail, who will most likely be forced to except an inferior product to satisfy xenophobic tendencies of certain politicians, and unions with a vested interested.

  • kevinjowen, Derby, UK

    It make me so proud of the people of Derby and the rest of the UK, that we had so many of you showing your support for British manufacturing and British jobs.

    At the rally today there was a child with a sign saying "who will be left to teach me a trade" lets make sure that there will always be a future for all children in manufacturing in the UK.

    Lets keep up the pressure on the government so we do not lose Bombardier or any other job in manufacturing

  • MikeB, Liverpool

    With regard to the Thameslink order, sadly Hammond is not going to change his mind and the contract will be signed with Siemens. The only hope for Bombardier is that he brings forward the contract for Crossrail and the much-needed replacement rolling stock orders for other TOCs. However, with the imminent arrival of Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe and the possibility of CSRE establishing a manufacturing base in the UK, Bombardier will have more competition than just Siemens and Alstom.

  • Tony Pearce, Reading, UK

    I went for a job in Derby Rail works (I think it was called MCW) back in 1967 whilst I was studying Mechanical Engineering at Birmingham University.

    An old employee told me that it was not worth it as the works was running out of orders (London Underground was their main customer) and they would soon all be on the Dole.

    So here we are 34 years on and still the same message.

    A firm which doesn't have a full order book can offer a quick turn-around (and charge higher prices) for Customers that need something urgently.

    I hope the Sales Staff are upto the job of securing those orders from somewhere in the world. Relying on 'Home Orders' is not a good idea in our International markets.

    Best wishes to all the Derby staff.