By Martin Walker
The over-subscribed Hitachi construction open day on Thursday was a huge success.
Staged brilliantly by the Xcel Centre’s superb conference team and delivered in sophisticated businesslike fashion, the 400-plus guests went away under no illusions that the much-awaited Hitachi factory is within touching distance.
Key facts from the day’s presentations were:
● Archaeology and groundworks to start this autumn
● Construction to start spring 2013
● Completion by end of 2014
● Project involves development of 31.5 acres of land
● Factory will be 42,700sqm in size and will make up to 35 trains a month
● More than 200 jobs in construction
● 500 direct full-time jobs, plus thousands more in supply chain
After an opening speech by Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, Hitachi Rail Europe’s managing director Keith Jordan spoke positively about Hitachi’s commitment to Aycliffe – not just with the £4.5bn Intercity Express Programme (IEP), but also with other contract bids in the pipeline and the firm’s 30-year plan for the North-East.
The three stages of the project were outlined in some detail.
● Stage one involves an assessment of the local archaeology
● Stage two will be the commissioning and building of the plant itself
● Stage three will see a rail test track and work with Network Rail to link the site with the Shildon Branch Line
John Finley, managing director of Aycliffe family-run firm Finley Structures, was among the guests.
He said: “I found the open day to be very informative and detailed, it gave a much more in-depth insight into the whole project and I’m sure excited the hundreds of potential suppliers and contractors who were in attendance.
“Naturally, we’d love to be involved in some capacity. We’re within one mile of Amazon Park and our extensive list of high-profile recent contracts demonstrate we’re more than capable of handling the job.
“But it promises to be a highly-competitive market when it goes out to tender, and we appreciate the emphasis is very much on value for money, but we hope to get a fair crack of the whip.”
See Phil Wilson’s opening speech at Thursday’s open day here
