Origins and construction In 2005, the UK
Department for Transport (DfT) decided to procure new trains to replace the
InterCity 125 fleet on both the
Great Western Main Line and
East Coast Main Line, launching the
Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to this end. During June 2008, three companies, the British infrastructure specialist
John Laing Group, the Japanese rolling stock manufacturer
Hitachi and the British investment firm
Barclays Private Equity, created the
Agility Trains consortium for the purpose of jointly bidding for the contract to design, manufacture, and maintain a fleet of long-distance trains for the IEP. On 12 February 2009, the Government announced that Agility Trains had been selected as the preferred bidder for the contract, with the Siemens-Bombardier consortia as reserve bidders – the value of the contract was then estimated at £7.5bn, including replacements for both Intercity 125 and 225 trains. In 2011, Hitachi chose the site of its British factory at developer Merchant Place Developments'
Amazon Park (later renamed
Merchant Park mid 2013) site in
Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, close to
Heighington railway station and adjacent to the
Tees Valley Line. Hitachi announced its intention to proceed with construction of the facility in July 2012, after financial closure was achieved for the part of the train order that concerned the GWML. On 1 November 2013, contract for the construction of the £82M factory was awarded to
Shepherd Group on 1 November 2013. Construction of the factory was scheduled to start in 2013, with train production beginning in 2015, and the plant reaching full production capacity in 2016. Erection of the frame of the factory was complete by June 2014, with an official
topping out ceremony held in October 2014.
Opening and activities On 3 September 2015, the factory was officially opened in the presence of
Hiroaki Nakanishi (Hitachi),
Patrick McLoughlin (MP),
Claire Perry (MP),
George Osborne (MP),
David Cameron (
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and 500 guests. The facility created 420 jobs, and aimed to employ more than 700 at maximum capacity. It was reported that it received over 16,000 job applications, in an area where the
Teesside Steelworks recently closed down with a loss of 3,000 jobs. Upon its opening, no actual manufacturing operations took place at the facility; it instead assembled components that had been built elsewhere into completed trains. Within two years of opening, in excess of 1,000 employees were working at the site. During January 2016, it was announced that Hitachi's successful tender for the
Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme consisting of new
Class 385s would be primarily assembled at Newton Aycliffe, and as part of
FirstGroup's successful tender for the
TransPennine Express franchise, it was announced in March 2016 that new
Class 802 rolling stock would be assembled at Newton Aycliffe. It was stated by
Hiroaki Nakanishi that a
UK vote to leave the European Union would result in a scaling back of investment in Newton Aycliffe, a comment which was echoed by local Labour politician and backer of
Britain Stronger in Europe,
Phil Wilson. In March 2019,
Lumo ordered five AT300 trains for its services on the
East Coast Main Line. The five units were built at Newton Aycliffe and would be maintained by Hitachi for ten years as part of the £100 million deal. When this order was announced, Hitachi stated that the plant needed new orders, especially after it had lost out on
London Underground's
New Tube for London contract to rival firm
Siemens. The company said that it would be bidding for a proposed bi-mode fleet for the East Midlands franchise and the replacement trains for the
Nexus contract on the
Tyne and Wear Metro. The units were designated as
Class 803. In July 2019, it was confirmed that Hitachi would build a fleet of 33 five-car bi-mode units for
East Midlands Railway. The project was listed as being worth £400 million. In late 2019, it was announced that
Avanti West Coast had ordered 23
A-train units to replace the 20 strong fleet of
Class 221 Super Voyagers. Nominally worth over £350 million, the order is for 13 five-car bi-mode units, and 10 seven-car electric trains, later named
Classes 805 and
807 respectively. By 2020, the plant reportedly employed around 700 people, and was engaged in assembling/building Classes 803, 805, 807 and 810. These train orders were to see the factory in business until 2023, when the final unit was due to be delivered. In December 2021, it was announced that a joint venture between Hitachi and Alstom had won the contract to build
54 trains for the High Speed 2 programme. The rolling stock would be constructed at Newton Aycliffe and Alstom plants in Crewe and Derby. However, questions over the future of this order have been raised. During December 2023, Hitachi opted to
write down the value of the Newton Aycliffe plant by £64.8m, raising concerns over its future, as well as that of the wider British rail manufacturing sector. The company publicly emphasized that this decision did not directly threaten the future of the plant and that its production capability remained available for further rolling stock orders if they are placed. In April 2024, a company spokesperson remarked that closure would be inevitable if new orders were not forthcoming to keep the site active; it was also reported that
redundancies at the facilities could possibly commence as soon as that June. In December 2024, Hitachi Rail stated in a press release that it had entered into a contract with
FirstGroup and
Angel Trains to lease 14 new five-car electric, battery-electric or bi-mode trains for First Rail's open-access operations, which will be manufactured at Newton Aycliffe, with their delivery expected to commence in late 2027. These trains will be used on a newly announced London-Carmarthen route, and to increase the number of carriages on the existing Lumo and Hull Trains services. The agreement includes an option to add 13 more trains to the order if more of First Rail's recently submitted open-access applications are successful. == Site ==