A FORMER Transport Minister has called on the Government to

give a £1.4bn train-building contract to Bombardier.

John Spellar (pictured), who was Minister for Transport from

2001 to 2003, said the Government must live up to Gordon

Brown's slogan – British jobs for British workers – by awarding

the contract for new Thameslink trains to the Litchurch

Lane-based firm.

The Labour MP has warned that industry in Derby and across

the Midlands would be hit if the order went to one of the other

bidders – all of whom are based outside the UK.

And Bombardier chairman Colin Walton said that if the

company secured the contract, it could mean hundreds of new

jobs for the company and its supply chain, as well as a huge

cash boost for the region.

The company, which has been building trains for more than

150 years, has a team of 100 employees preparing the ground for

the bid, which will be submitted next year.

The other companies invited to tender for the contract – to

build 1,100 carriages for the line between Bedford and Brighton

– are French firm Alstom Transport, Siemens of Germany and the

Japanese-owned Hitachi Europe group.

Mr Spellar said: "This huge order doesn't just mean jobs in

Derby but right across the Midlands through the supply

chain.

"The Department for Transport needs to take seriously the

Prime Minister's slogan – British jobs for British workers.

"If a company wants to sell trains to the German railways,

the rolling stock has to be built in Germany, and if a firm

wants to sell trains to the French railways, the trains have to

be built in France.

"We should be looking after British industry in the same

way."

It was at last September, at the Labour Party's annual

conference, that Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that the

Government would strive to create "British jobs for British

workers".

But yesterday, Mr Brown's office said it could not comment

on anything to do with the Thameslink contract while the

tendering process was under way.

Bombardier chairman Mr Walton said he thought British

companies bidding for contracts in Britain were not in such a

strong position as, for example, German companies bidding for

contracts in Germany.

"European regulations are interpreted and enforced

differently in different countries," he said.

"Mr Brown is the Prime Minister and if he says the way

forward is British jobs for British workers, then we welcome

that, though we haven't seen much evidence of it yet."

Mr Walton has no doubts about what the benefits to the

region would be if the contract was won.

Economic studies carried out by the company suggest that for

every £1 put into Bombardier, £2 would be put into the regional

economy.

"In Bombardier and its supply chain, I would be surprised if

it did not mean hundreds of new jobs."

Failure to secure the Thameslink contract, Mr Walton said,

would not affect job security at the firm but it could mean job

losses in the supply chain.

Tony Forster is managing director of Litchurch Lane, Derby,

engineering firm Tecforce, which has received a lot of business

from Bombardier. "A large contract like this for Bombardier

would mean security for a lot of smaller firms into the next

decade," he said.

Bombardier is also hoping to win two other big

contracts.

The first is to provide 2,000 carriages as part of the

Inter-City Express Programme and the other is to build 600

carriages for the London Underground's Piccadilly Line.