In Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, Siemens intends to build a state-of-the-art factory to manufacture and commission trains, as the company signed a long-term agreement for lease of land in the British town. The needed investment is estimated at £200 million (EUR 225.8 million). Siemens aims to start phased development of the 67-acre site later this year, if investment conditions are met, and subject to the company’s success in major future orders.
“Having considered multiple locations in the UK, I’m delighted to confirm that we’ve identified a site in Goole for our new UK rail factory which not only has the potential scale we need for a facility of this size but also ready access to the skilled people we’d need to build and operate the factory,” Juergen Maier, Chief Executive at Siemens UK said.
The proposed factory in Goole will have a size of 271,000m2, with up to 12 km of track, with a potential for the development of a test track, and new buildings with a total area of 75,000m2.
“We’re committed to supporting Siemens’ ambitions to establish a major manufacturing facility for the UK rail industry in Goole, which would deliver significant economic benefits to the East Riding of Yorkshire, the wider region and the country as a whole,” Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said.
The new factory could employ up to 700 people in skilled engineering and manufacturing roles, plus an additional 250 people during the construction phase. Around 1,700 indirect jobs are expected to be created throughout the UK supply chain.
Currently, Siemens is one of the biggest employers in the UK rail sector, with 4,400 employees working in rail and wider transport-related roles. The new facility will complement Siemens’ existing operations, comprising some 450 trains in service and eight purpose-built maintenance facilities, plus wider activities in electrification, signalling and train control technologies.
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