Downing Street has announced that a new fleet of 29 battery-powered trains will be built in Derby for TransPennine Express, in a move the government says will bring faster and more reliable journeys to the north of England. The trains will be manufactured at Alstom's Litchurch Lane works from 2028, according to the announcement.
The government said the order will support 350 jobs at the Derby site and nearly 6,000 across the UK supply chain. The fleet forms part of a plan valued at around £1 billion to build the trains in Britain rather than abroad, a detail highlighted by those promoting the scheme as a boost for domestic manufacturing as well as for passengers.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the new trains would cut journey times by up to 10 minutes between Manchester and Leeds and by up to 14 minutes between Manchester and York. Those reductions are central to the case being made for the fleet, which is intended to improve connectivity across some of the busiest intercity routes in the north.
The trains will be operated by TransPennine Express, the intercity franchise that links major cities across the north of England and into Scotland. Battery-electric propulsion allows trains to run on non-electrified sections of track without diesel engines, which is relevant to a network where parts of the route have not been wired for overhead power.
Building the fleet at Litchurch Lane continues a long association between Derby and train manufacturing. Alstom's works is one of the largest remaining rolling stock sites in the UK, and the order provides a pipeline of work for the plant beyond the current decade. The government framed the decision as evidence that public investment in rail can sustain skilled industrial employment in the Midlands while delivering benefits to passengers in the north.
The announcement is the latest stage in a wider effort to renew rolling stock on intercity routes and to present rail investment as a means of supporting both regional economies and the UK supply chain. For passengers, the promised gains are shorter journeys and more dependable services; for the Derby works and its suppliers, the gain is a confirmed order stretching into the next decade.
Details of the procurement, the precise configuration of the trains and the timetable for their introduction have not been set out in full. What has been confirmed is the number of trains, the builder, the operator, the start of construction in 2028 and the estimated journey time savings on two key northern corridors.