The Mayor of London visited the site of Siemens Mobility’s new factory in Goole, East Yorkshire, where dozens of new Piccadilly Line tube trains will be built as part of a £1.5bn contract.
But Khan said today possible future deals for the Goole factory, which is still under construction but due to open next year and employ hundreds of people, would be called into question unless the government agrees a long-term equity financing deal. for TfL. .
Under the terms of the contract, Siemens will build some of the Piccadilly line’s 94 new trains at an existing factory in Vienna, but will shift production to Yorkshire when the new factory opens.
TfL has time-limited options built into its contract with Siemens Mobility to also build new Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City line trains in the future, but the mayor’s office said this work is dependent on sufficient funding. Without enough government support, work could be delayed nearly 20 years to the early 2040s.
Khan said: “When we awarded the contract to Siemens, what Siemens was able to do because of the certainty that we ordered 94 trains for the Piccadilly line was to invest in this new factory in Goole. That has already led to the creation of 250 construction jobs and when this factory opens there will be an additional 700 jobs plus almost 2,000 supply chain jobs, all building the trains we need in London.
“The problem is that the pandemic has meant that fee income has dried up for TfL. We need a long-term agreement from the Government to invest in capital.
“What I want is for the Government to give us certainty so that we can make sure the Piccadilly line gets the trains it needs, but we could also order trains for the Bakerloo line, the Central line, the Waterloo & City line. all those trains are 50 years old.
“That means more certainty for Siemens and they can invest more in this factory and result in the creation of more jobs.
“Siemens is already happy to do that. The same goes for the local MP, council and TfL; the only thing missing is the government. If leveling up is going to be meaningful, that has to mean investing in jobs like this.”
In February, the Department for Transport agreed to provide a further £200m to TfL in a financial rescue package that runs until June. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the support brought the government’s emergency funding to TfL during the pandemic to nearly £5bn and said Khan needed to put the organization “on the path to financial sustainability” to next year.
Khan said: “Every other major city in the world has their government supporting their public transport. London is the only major city in the world where the government is washing its hands of transport.
“For next year we will make sure that we are completely financially sustainable. But long-term capital investment requires government investment.
“This contract is for £1.5bn. It is simply unrealistic to expect Londoners to be able to afford future contracts like that for themselves.
“The government has to intervene, it does it in other industries, it has done it in the past.
“If we had certainty from the government regarding capital, we could be investing in new trains which benefit Londoners but also benefit other parts of the country because they have the skills, experience and equipment to build the trains we need.
“The way to make our country equal is not to impoverish London, that’s not sensible.”
Khan was accompanied on his visit by local Conservative MP Andrew Percy, who represents Brigg and Goole.
Mr. Percy said of his decision to join the visit after being invited by Mr. Khan: “I’m here to point out that I will work with anyone for the good of our city because it’s about people’s jobs and the future of our area.
“No matter what people’s politics are, we all agree that actually, by investing in the whole country, the whole country benefits. This is an example of how investing in London can be good for the North of England.
“This factory is not being built just to make TfL trains, we want them to make many other trains as well. But that’s obviously the catalyst for making this development happen, so it’s important that we all work together.
“We have political divisions but we all want more jobs and we all want successful British manufacturing and by investing in the south of England you can bring benefits across the north.
“I am happy to be here and I will work with Sadiq and whoever for the good of our city.”
Asked about Mr Khan’s criticism of the government in relation to the funding of TfL, Mr Percy said: “Sadiq is the Mayor of London and he is raising the political points he needs to raise and I would be raising if I were in his position on the future of…
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-21 15:37:53
