Train manufacturer Hitachi Rail Europe is creating 150 jobs at its recently built Bristol depot to maintain the new fleet of trains being introduced on the Great Western mainline to London, it announced today.
The £80m depot near Bristol Parkway station prepare the new intercity express trains for service later this year and will then maintain them on a day-to-day basis, including engine tests, changing wheels and thorough inspections.
The depot is one of three in the Great Western region that will maintain the new AT800-class trains built at HRE’s UK train manufacturing facility at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The trains have similar technology to that used by Japan’s famous Hitachi-built bullet trains.
The new trains replace Great Western’s aging Intercity 125 fleet, which was first introduced in 1976.
HRE said the new roles would require people with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds and would build on the area’s engineering heritage.
As part of bringing new skills and talents into the industry, steps are being taken to attract people who have not previously worked in rail.
HRE is looking to recruit from a variety of sectors such as aviation, automotive, and the military, as well as those groups often underrepresented in rail such as women and young people.
HRE has a contract to maintain trains at Stoke Gifford for the next 27.5 years. It said its ambition was to make the site a long-term centre of excellence.
Links are being forged with local schools and colleges where HRE will demonstrate the wide-range of opportunities available in rail industry as well as promoting participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.
Stoke Gifford will also recruit four new apprentices ever year once the site is fully operational.
Depot manager Gary Martin said: “The Stoke Gifford depot will soon become a source of great local pride where new trains carrying millions of passengers will be serviced to the highest of standards.
“Our newly built facility is a clean and modern environment which will break all traditional stereotypes of a train depot. To house 21st century trains Hitachi Rail Europe has designed a truly forward-looking facility offering exciting opportunities for local people.
“As well as building new trains and depots, we are also investing in a new generation of rail workers. We want the widest range of talents and skills as we gear up towards the new trains coming into service later this year.”
Great Western decided to buy the HRW electro-diesel trains amid a number of delays to electrification of the mainline from Temple Meads to London. Last November the government caused uproar when it announced that electrification on the line to Paddington would end at Bath – leaving the new trains to run between Bath and Temple Meads to run on diesel.
Electrification of the line between Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway has also been scrapped.
