What's driving the UK's rail renaissance?

Spanish train maker CAF’s announcement in July of its intention to build a train manufacturing plant in South Wales set the seal on a dramatic renaissance in UK train building. CAF follows in the footsteps of Japan’s Hitachi, whose Newton Aycliffe plant opened in 2015 and is now turning out Intercity Express trains for the Great Western and East Coast main lines.

This activity follows a period in which the UK’s manufacturing capability had appeared to be in decline. In 2005, the closure of Alstom’s Washwood Heath plant near Birmingham after it completed the order for Pendolinos for Virgin Trains’ West Coast franchise left Bombardier Transportation’s Derby plant as the UK’s sole train manufacturing site. When Siemens beat Bombardier to the contract for Thameslink trains in 2011, the future of the Derby plant seemed in doubt. Now it is turning out Aventra trains for Crossrail and a number of other clients.

And CAF’s announcement came two weeks after the official opening of Alstom’s new train maintenance and technology centre in Widnes, which the company says could be extended to manufacture trains in the future if it wins a significant order.