91Èȱ¬

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond inspects investment in London's railways, but he still has to decide on plans that could create thousands of jobs in the North East.

On the face of it, the Government's announcement of an £8bn investment in Britain's railways sounded like the news the North East had been waiting for.

For months, the region has been on tenterhooks to see if the Government would invest in new trains and carriages.

Last week, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond told me, the decision would be made within weeks.

That would then allow Hitachi to being train-building to a site at Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham, creating 800 jobs directly, and thousands more in the supply chain. A "second Nissan" as some have described it.

But a quick dig into the details of , purely reveals more delay and uncertainty.

Yes, the Government is ordering 2,000 new rail carriages, but the crucial decision for the North East remains unresolved.

.

It has decided not to refurbish the existing fleet, so new trains will need to be built by someone.

But that someone may not be Hitachi in County Durham.

A second bid for the contract is now also being considered alongside Hitachi's.

That's believed to have come from .

The decision on which bid is successful will rest on what sort of trains the Government wants to order.

That's all because the trains may have to cope with both electrified and non-electrified lines.

Still waiting for the train: an artists impression of the express trains that Hitachi wants to build in County Durham.

So Hitachi are planning to build some all-electric-diesel hybrids which would allow new trains and carriages to move seamlessly between electrified and non-electrified lines.

But it seems the rival bidder will offer all-electric trains which could then be coupled to diesel locos if necessary.

Some of this will also link into another delayed decision. .

If it does, it may influence whether Hitachi or its rival wins the bid, or perhaps a combination of the two.

.

The company says it is still committed to the UK market, but in a statement the firm added: "We are disappointed that there is yet no decision on our bid...and therefore on our plans to bring jobs to the UK.

"We will be continuing our talks with the Department for Transport and will consider our position in the light of these."

That last sentence will worry North East Labour MPs supporting the Hitachi bid.

.

Hope remains of a positive outcome in the New Year, but today there was no early Christmas present for the North East.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?