Why Transport Secretary Phil Hammond was right to give Thameslink contract to Siemens

From: Daily Telegraph

Transport Secretary Phil Hammond was right to award the controversial Thameslink train contract to Siemens earlier this year and right to resist calls for the decision to be reviewed, or the procurement process reopened. So says Damian Reece of the Daily Telegraph.

Siemens won the deal fair and square. The fact the trains will eventually be built in Germany should be a relatively small detail for an internationally competitive country, which the UK aspires to be.

True, the incumbent supplier, Canada’s Bombardier, promptly announced 1,400 eventual job losses as a result of losing the contract but Siemens intends to create 2,000 jobs in the UK, including 1,400 to build depots and maintain trains and 600 in the supply chain. The company already employs 16,000 people here in 13 factories, with £1bn of manufacturing exports from the UK. It’s been here for 168 years, built the telegraph line from London to Calcutta and laid the first sea cable from England to the US. It invests £80m to £90m a year in R&D.

Siemens UK is one of the country’s finest companies and Bombardier’s failure to compete should not be turned into a witch hunt against it.

To rescind a contract would also reveal the UK government as an untrustworthy partner and make the UK a far less attractive investment destination.

What the Coalition could legitimately do in the wake of the Bombardier decision is review how future contracts are awarded and bring them in line with wider European practice. This could help employment here but value for money is also crucial. The best way to secure UK jobs is to have competitive UK companies – which requires lower tax and less regulation.

How to make money on the Railways

With todays publication of the McNulty report high on the reporting priorities of the National Press and the associated spin, b******t & hysteria, I thought I would offer my thoughts on how the railways can make more money by making more efficient use of the resources available and also creating jobs rather than cutting.  I have produced the following video to show how to make more efficient use of carriages currently in service.

In all seriousness, the McNulty Report will have far reaching implications to a rail industry that has had it’s own way for far too long.  There is a need to look at cutting costs as the UK has one of the most expensive rail systems in the World.  I will refrain however from commenting fully until I have had a chance to read the report myself.