1,000 Derby jobs secured as Bombardier lands £1bn East Anglia deal

Bombardier in Derby has landed a £1bn order to build 660 train carriages in a deal that will secure the jobs of 1,000 people in the city.

Bombardier will manufacture the trains for the new Abellio East Anglia franchise, which will run the East Anglian train service from October 2016.

Des McKeon UK commercial director at Bombardier Transportation said: “We’re delighted to be chosen, pending final contract signing, as the preferred supplier for new trains for the East Anglia franchise. We look forward to working with our customer the Abellio UK, to support them in transforming rail services throughout the region and delivering an enhanced customer experience through the provision of new trains.

“It’s a great endorsement of Bombardier’s next-generation AVENTRA train family, which offers maximum flexibility, to serve many different market requirements from metro to intercity.”

More than 97 million journeys are made on East Anglia’s rail network each year, with around 4,300 trains every week serving London commuters, the regional hubs of Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich, leisure travellers to Stansted Airport and coastal and rural resorts around the region.

The new franchise will run from October 2016 until 2025.