Green light for Siemens Mobility’s £100 million state-of-the-art factory in Chippenham, Wiltshire

As a hub of innovation and technology for over a century, the Chippenham factory has continuously pushed the boundaries of rail technology, leaving a permanent mark on projects both in the UK and globally. Currently 50 – 60% of the factory's output is delivered to UK signalling projects, with the remainder exported worldwide. 

Some of these projects include: 

• Elizabeth, Victoria, and Central lines (Metro Signaling): The Chippenham site has been fundamental in the digital signalling technology driving passenger journeys on the Elizabeth line. The Victoria line, where trains arrive every 100-seconds at peak times, has also benefited from the company’s intelligent digital technologies since it opened in 1968.  
• East Coast Digital Programme and Trackguard Westrace: The factory played a key role in developing computer-based interlockings in the 1980s, forming the foundation of technology used today on the East Coast Digital Programme and Thameslink before that. This collaborative effort with partners aims to transform the East Coast Main Line into the UK’s first digital intercity railway. 
• Modular Technology: The application of modular technology, tested in Chippenham, has significantly improved connections for local communities on the North Wales Coast, reducing costs and carbon footprint. This modular approach is now being extended to open the Northumberland Line to passenger traffic and update signalling between Devon and Cornwall.  
• Development of Relays for Railway Signalling: Siemens Mobility's Chippenham factory has been a key player in creating electrically operated switches, known as relays, since they were first introduced to the rail network as a safety feature in the 1900s. With a track record of supplying more than two million relays across 95 countries and counting, the factory has continued to maintain its market-leading position.  
• Centralised Traffic Control: Chippenham was at the forefront of delivering the first centralized traffic control systems in the UK in the 1920s. Today, Siemens’ centralised traffic control and associated systems are in use across the UK, showcasing innovations like Dynamic Conflict Resolution, which has been successfully employed in projects such as Merseyrail.  

The new site,  located south of Langley Park at Southpoint Business Park will feature a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ – certified office, with production and warehouse areas meeting strict sustainability criteria. The site has been designed to blend in with its surroundings and will undergo an ecological assessment aiming for a 10% net increase in biodiversity through the planting of native plants and the creation of wildlife habitats. 

For more information on the new Chippenham site, click here.

For further information about Siemens Mobility, click here.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare.

The company’s purpose is to create technology to transform the everyday, for everyone. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers customers to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformations, making factories more efficient, cities more liveable, and transportation more sustainable.

Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. Sustainably.

In fiscal 2024, which ended on September 30, 2024, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €75.9 billion and net income of €9.0 billion.

As of September 30, 2024, the company employed around 312,000 people worldwide on the basis of continuing operations.

Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.