Prime Minister Boris Johnson has visited the site of Siemens Mobility’s planned 海角视频 train manufacturing centre, fresh from his call to get the country‘building back better, greener and faster'.
Mr Johnson arrived in Goole on Monday afternoon to see the £200 million development’s location, just off the M62 in East Yorkshire.
It will initially serve an order for London Underground, with a bid also in to provide trains for HS2.
More than 700 jobs will be created, with university and college links also being forged to bring skills, knowledge and first class apprenticeships to the inland port town.
Siemens opted for the site having been impressed with the welcome and support the blade plant received in Hull.
Mr Johnson said: “Goole is going to be one of the great European centres of train-making and this factory alone will employ about 700 people. I’ve been talking today to young apprentices who see long-term futures for themselves here and in the high-tech low-carbon sector.
“We are investing £48bn in the railways alone.
“I appreciate the scale of the challenge. There is absolutely no doubt that the covid epidemic has been and will be difficult for our country but we will get through it by investing in infrastructure, technology, education and bouncing forward as far as we possibility can.”
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Speaking as he toured, there was also some posturing with unions over driverless trains and his successor as Mayor of London.
As , Mr Johnson said: “We are finding people want to come to the 海角视频 because it’s got a great skills base, a very competitive business environment and the 海角视频 remains one of world’s top destinations for investment and we’re keen to encourage that.
“Here I see a big investment by a German company, Siemens, to our country.
“It’s a fantastic 海角视频 operation and they’ll be producing new trains for the Piccadilly line.
“I may say it was a contract made to upgrade the line by the previous Mayor of London, (Mr Johnson) who did a better job than the current one.
“So I’m very proud to see these trains being built.
“These trains have the ability to be driverless and we will be making sure that the contract that we will give will make them driverless.
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“We will go forward with the technology this country is capable of and will not be held ransom by the unions.”
Of the location, a busy hub with chemicals giant Croda adding a major logistics operation and Beal Homes launching an 800-house development close by, Mr Johnson said: “If you think about it, this country in the last 50 years there has been an obsession in the Treasury that London and the south east were the big cash cows”, said Mr Johnson.
“But what that meant was that there were huge parts of the country where the potential was not unleashed.
“There hasn’t been enough investment in infrastructure and skills and in people’s potential but this government is determined to change that.
“Who would’ve thought Goole would have been a huge area in Europe for trade and research and development, as they’re not just going to make trains here, they’re going to be researching new technology and producing all sorts of low-carbon trains.
“This is going to be a high-skilled, high-tech centre.
“It’s not about knocking London or the metropolis that I used to be mayor of. On the contrary, it’s about trying to recognise that there is genius all over this country and we need to be unleashing it.”
He also spoke about doing “everything we can to unleash the potential in this area and to drive jobs” flagging up “big opportunities in low carbon”.
“There are big, big, opportunities for long-term jobs and high-skilled jobs that will actually help this country for decades to come,” he said, underlining an £111 million commitment to training.
“Investing now in stuff like wind turbines will solve so many different problems at once and this government is going to do a huge amount on that.
“There is a lot of basic work we have to do to get people confident in their abilities, traineeships, getting people into work and making sure that they don’t have that sense that there is nothing out there for them.”
Cllr Richard Burton, leader of East Riding Council, joined Mr Johnson and constituency MP Andrew Percy. He said: “To have such a high profile visit to the East Riding is absolutely fantastic. We are a great place to do business and I think we are proving that.
“We’ve got some many different enterprises happening here, projects up and running.
“Just down the road we’ve got Croda, which is a European business which is building a very, very large warehouse factory, and the Junction 36 is a bustling area and it’s growing.
“It’s great to see we’re taking such an important role in the country’s prosperity.”
Of the Siemens Mobility development, awaiting final detailed planning approval, Cllr Burton said: “It’s a really big investment for East Riding and the East Riding is a great place to do business.”
First phase if manufacturing is anticipated in early 2023.