Bombardier in Burton wins £100m contract

BOMBARDIER has secured a contract worth more than £100 million to continue maintaining Virgin trains that operate on the West Coast mainline.

The work will be carried out at the firm’s Central Rivers depot at Burton, which employs 360 people.

The contract will run until March, 2016, and is an extension to an existing deal.

It has come about after the Department for Transport decided to ask Virgin to continue operating services on the West Coast route.

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It follows the cancellation of the competition to run the rail franchise, which was won by FirstGroup, after fundamental flaws were discovered by the DfT in the bidding process.

The competition will be started again and in the meantime, Virgin will continue to operate the line.

Tony Collins, chief executive of Virgin Trains, said: “Virgin Trains is delighted to extend our service agreement with Bombardier Transportation, building on the strong relationship we have developed over the last 13 years.

“The Voyagers are a key part of the West Coast fleet and we look forward to working with Bombardier to continue to deliver a reliable and punctual service to all of our customers.”

Paul Roberts, chief country representative at Bombardier Transportation UK, said: “Winning this contract allows us to continue our strong relationship with Virgin, which has been in place since 1998.

“It demonstrates Virgin's trust in Bombardier to continue delivering an excellent and cost-effective service.”