SIEMENS Mobility has announced that it will invest £100m to build a new manufacturing, digital engineering and research and development (R&D) centre at Chippenham in Britain.
The announcement was made at the current Siemens signalling factory in Chippenham on March 4, in the presence of Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, Mr Jeremy Hunt, and Network Rail (NR) chief executive, Mr Andrew Haines.
The new facility is due to open in 2026 on a greenfield site to replace the existing factory. With 19,305m2 of floorspace, it will produce conventional and digital signalling equipment and control systems, as well electrification and mobile communications equipment.
Siemens says that the new factory will meet “the latest standards for highly efficient production,” while offices are designed to provide a modern working environment. There will be many open areas to foster collaboration as well as meeting spaces and relaxation areas, the company adds.
As at present, up to 60% of production at the new Chippenham facility will be for the British market and the remainder for export. The latter is divided equally between Siemens’ signalling projects and those being delivered by other contractors.
Siemens says that all 800 staff currently working in Chippenham will transfer to the new site on the South Point business park, without interrupting production.
Recent production at Chippenham has included digital signalling systems for the Elizabeth Line, as well London Underground’s (LU) Victoria and Central lines.
Siemens is also supplying computer-based interlockings for NR’s East Coast Digital Programme to install ETCS Level 2 on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between London and Peterborough, as well as equipment for the North Wales Coast and Core Valley Lines resignalling projects.
“This new £100m million investment underscores our unwavering commitment to Chippenham and the UK,” says Mr Karl Blaim, managing director and chief financial officer at Siemens Mobility.
“It will be the most modern railway signalling facility of its kind in the whole world,” Blaim says, building on Siemens’ investment in a new train manufacturing facility in Goole in the north of England, where production of new trains for LU’s Piccadilly Line is due to start next week.
“This new commitment from Siemens is a big boost for Britain’s world-class manufacturing sector and shows our plan for the UK to be the best place to invest and grow a business is working,” says Hunt.
“This digital technology will improve the safety, reliability and connectivity of our railways and drive sustainable opportunities in higher-paid jobs and exports, as part of our plan to grow our economy.”
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