London, 2013-Jun-27
This is the largest contract ever awarded to Siemens plc, covering the capital cost of the trains and associated depot infrastructure and will boost Siemens’ UK rail portfolio to over 2,800 carriages. In addition, the consortium will be responsible for financing the deal, with Siemens also looking after the long-term maintenance of the trains.
Siemens has invested around 50 million Euros to develop the Desiro City train - the platform that has been selected for the Thameslink Programme - specifically for the UK. The second-generation, evolutionary Desiro City combines the latest technology with the proven Siemens Desiro platform, one of the country’s most reliable train designs, which travels more than 50 million passenger miles nationwide each year.
The Desiro City will offer a much improved passenger travel experience and a step change in capacity and reliability.
The Desiro City has been developed to offer a metro-style service, with a spacious and airy design that maximises capacity and significantly increases passenger comfort levels. The Desiro City Thameslink fleet will be maintained at two new traincare depots at Three Bridges (Crawley) and Hornsey (London Borough of Haringey) providing outstanding facilities. The trains will be introduced into service from early 2016 with the full 24 trains per hour service coming into effect at the end of 2018.
Steve Scrimshaw, UK Managing Director at Siemens Rail Systems, said: “The finalisation of the Thameslink contract reaffirms Siemens’ commitment to ongoing development and continued innovation in the UK rail industry.
“The introduction of the new Desiro City will offer a much improved passenger travel experience and a step change in capacity and reliability. It’s a technologically advanced train that has been designed with UK travellers in mind, incorporating proven technology and using the expertise, skills and feedback of highly experienced UK operators, train crew, cleaners and maintenance staff at every stage of the process.”
Established in the UK 170 years ago, Siemens is a very significant employer (13,520 UK employees) and supporter of British manufacturing. The company has sought to include locally sourced train components in the Desiro City design to further support the rail supply chain and offer additional employment opportunities. Siemens anticipates the creation of up to 2,000 jobs across the UK in component manufacturing and assembly, as well as in the construction of the new depots and subsequent train maintenance.
Siemens will be manufacturing hi-tech electrical components for the Desiro City train at its facility in Hebburn, South Tyneside – one of 13 manufacturing plants Siemens owns in the UK. This will help to develop a legacy of sustainable rail manufacturing skills in the North East. Further components sourced from the UK include, amongst others, train pantographs manufactured in Somerset; cab radios in Dorset; flooring in Hertfordshire; exterior lighting in the West Midlands; train protection and warning systems in Cheshire; and, CCTV in Tyne and Wear. The train bodyshells will be manufactured in Krefeld, Germany, with the trains tested to the latest standards at Siemens’ unique test track in Wildenrath, Germany, minimising disruption to the UK network.
- Ends -
Contacts for journalists:
Siemens Rail Systems
Laurie Waugh
Phone: 07921 242074
E-mail: laurie.waugh@siemens.com
Siemens plc
Silke Thomson-Pottebohm
Phone: 07808 822780
E-mail: silke.thomson-pottebohm@siemens.com
Siemens plc
Anne Keogh
Phone: 07808 823545
E-mail: anne.keogh@siemens.com
Siemens plc
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 170 years ago and now employs around 13,520 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £3.2 billion*. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports.
Siemens Rail Systems
As part of the Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, Siemens Rail Systems Division provides expertise and technology in the full range of rail vehicles – from heavy rail to metros to trams and light-rail vehicles. In the UK, the Division employs around 700 people and maintains over 350 Siemens passenger trains for First TransPennine Express, South West Trains, Heathrow Express, Greater Anglia Franchise (Abellio), Northern Rail, London Midland and ScotRail. The company will also be supplying Eurostar with its new high speed fleet of trains.
Siemens Project Ventures GmbH – part of Siemens Financial Services
The Financial Services unit of Siemens (SFS) is an international provider of business-to-business financial solutions. SFS helps facilitate investments, providing commercial finance, project and structured finance with specific asset expertise in the energy, healthcare, industry, and infrastructure & cities markets. Employing more than 2,900 employees worldwide, SFS supports Siemens as well as other companies with their capital needs and acts as an expert manager of financial risks within the Siemens Company. By leveraging our financing expertise and our industrial know-how we create value for our customers and help them strengthen their competitiveness. Beyond that, financing is key in creating trust for technological solutions – and acts as a key enabler when it comes to the market launch. As of September 30, 2012, the total assets amounted to €17.4 billion.
3i Infrastructure plc
3i Infrastructure plc is a Jersey-incorporated, closed-ended investment company that invests in infrastructure businesses and assets and is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. The Company is building a diversified portfolio of infrastructure investments across the globe, with a focus on Europe. As of 31 March 2013, 3i Infrastructure had a portfolio of 14 assets valued at £919 million, and net assets of £1,103 million. The Company listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2007, raising £703 million in an initial public offering and a further £115 million in a subsequent placing and open offer in July 2008, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. 3i Investments plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 3i Group plc, is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and acts as Investment Adviser to 3i Infrastructure plc.
Innisfree Limited
Innisfree is a leading infrastructure investment group in the UK sponsoring and making long term investments in public private infrastructure projects. Innisfree currently has a platform of 57 projects with a capital value of £16.4 billion covering health, education, transport and defence accommodation. Innisfree provides a channel for institutional investors to invest in public private infrastructure projects and has to date raised £2.3 billion for these purposes.
Thameslink Programme overview
The Thameslink Programme will create a new high capacity, high frequency service of longer trains across central London. It will also link together new routes, in particular the East Coast Mainline with the Thameslink route at St Pancras International. The first phase is finished providing longer platforms on the Midland Mainline north Thameslink route (Bedford to St Pancras International) and new stations at Blackfriars and Farringdon so that 50% longer 12-carriage trains can now run between Bedford and Brighton. The final phase is to rebuild London Bridge and its surrounding rail track to unblock this bottleneck and usher in a new high frequency service of new 12 and 8 carriage trains of up to 24 trains per hour in each direction between London Blackfriars and St Pancras International.
