Alstom Awarded Contract for £370 Million Battery-Electric Train Fleet in Derby

Alstom has secured a contract worth £370 million to construct 42 battery-electric trains, designated as Class 508, at its Derby Litchurch Lane factory. The order, placed by the government's rolling stock operating company, Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), comprises a total of 104 carriages, with options for further expansion.

GBRTT specified that these new trains are intended to operate on regional routes across the UK. Alstom claims the project will sustain approximately 3,000 jobs, including 700 at the Derby plant and 2,300 within its broader UK supply chain. The Litchurch Lane site, which has been in continuous operation for nearly 190 years, remains the only facility in the UK capable of designing, engineering, building, and testing new trains for domestic and export markets.

This order follows a critical period for the Derby factory, which had faced a significant gap in its production schedule after completing its last batch of trains earlier this year. The manufacturing facility had been actively seeking new contracts to avert potential job losses and ensure its long-term viability, a situation that had drawn considerable local and national attention to the future of UK train manufacturing.