New Railway Jobs near Audlem

Early visualisation of an HS2 train

Crewe is to play a key part in building of high-speed trains

Cheshire East Council has welcomed the announcement that Crewe is to play a key part in the building of HS2's fleet of high-speed trains.

HS2 Ltd has confirmed that it has awarded Alstom and Hitachi Rail the contract to build the fleet at their factories in County Durham, Derby and Crewe.

As part of this, all the bogies (which house train wheelsets) will both be assembled and maintained at Alstom's Crewe facility -- the first time since 2004 that both jobs have been done in the UK.

Hitachi/Alstom JV estimates that the award could boost the economy by more than £157m per year of the contract and support 2,500 jobs across the UK including opportunities for apprenticeships and graduates.

There will also in due course be a further announcement about the competition to find a national headquarters for new public body – Great British Railways.