by Benson Agoha
Canadian multinational aerospace and transportation company, Bombardier Inc., has singed the contract to supply Trains and Depot to Crossrail's rolling stock.
The contract which was confirmed yesterday by both Crossrail and Bombardier, is valued at approximately £1.3 billion GBP (1.6 billion euro, $2.1 billion US).
Crossrail released a statement on its website yesteray saying "Transport for London (TfL) today confirmed that, following the completion of a 10 day standstill period, it has now signed a contract with Bombardier for the delivery of rolling stock and a new depot for Crossrail.
Crossrail said the contract between TfL and Bombardier covers the supply, delivery and maintenance of 65 new trains and a depot at Old Oak Common, adding "TfL will run Crossrail as part of its integrated transport services for London, including ticketing and customer travel information."
In an official statement on its website, the Canadian rail technology leader with Headquarters in Montreal, said it has signed a contract with Transport for London for the provision of new trains, a depot and maintenance services for the flagship London Crossrail project.
Though a Canadian firm, Bombardier will produce the trains in their plant in Derby, UK, bringing more good news to the improving employment situation in UK.
Breaking the cheery news, Crossrail said "..this will support 760 UK manufacturing jobs plus 80 apprenticeships. An estimated 74 per cent of contract spend will remain in the UK economy."
With the train design still in progress, Crossrail said TfL will be working with Bombardier on the final design for the trains, with the first due to be delivered in May 2017.
The statement said the new fleet of trains will be progressively introduced to the existing rail network, well in advance of services commencing through Crossrail’s central section in December 2018.
It said "the construction of the maintenance depot at Old Oak Common will support 244 jobs, plus 16 apprenticeships", adding "..when fully operational the depot will support 80 jobs to maintain the new fleet of trains."
Crossrail said the contract includes a maintenance contract for up to 32 years, and includes an option to purchase 18 additional trains.
Explaining further, Crossrail said Bombardier and all of its suppliers are committed to paying their London-based employees the London Living Wage, which is a requirement of all TfL and Crossrail contracts.
Bombardier, which prides itself as the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains, said it looks far ahead, while delivering today.
"To maximise opportunities for local recruitment, Bombardier will advertise all new jobs using the Crossrail Jobs Brokerage service which is linked to JobCentre Plus, the statement said.
Contract for the operation of Crossrail services is expected to be awarded by TfL at the end of 2014.
When awarded, Crossrail said the successful train operator will start running the first services from May 2015 between Liverpool Street (mainline platforms) and Shenfield, taking over the stopping services currently operated by Greater Anglia.
The current planning assumption is that new Crossrail trains will be introduced to run Crossrail services as follows:
Liverpool Street to Shenfield – May 2017.
Heathrow to Paddington (mainline platforms) – May 2018 (when the Crossrail concession takes over the Heathrow Connect service).
Paddington (Crossrail platforms) to Abbey Wood – December 2018.
Paddington (Crossrail platforms) to Shenfield – May 2019.
Full through service (including services to Maidenhead) – December 2019.
Crossrail covers from Abbey Wood in the Southeast to Maindenhead in the Southwest.
There will be a Crossrail Station in Woolwich by the time full operation starts in 2019.
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* Photo Credit: Crossrail/Bombardier.
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