Bombardier wins massive Crossrail contract

Bombardier's share price is up this morning (February 6th) after the company was confirmed as the winning bidder for a major government contract.

The firm has won the £1 billion contract to provide trains for the Crossrail project in London, beating competition from rival bidders such as Japan's Hitachi and Spain's CAF.

Chief executive at Crossrail, Andrew Wolstenholme, stated that Crossrail is going to "transform" public transport in London and the south-east of England.

"Procurement of the rolling stock and depot is just one more step in delivering this new railway and making it a reality for millions of passengers," he said.

Mr Wolstenholme added that the deal, which will provide 760 manufacturing jobs and 80 apprenticeships, was conducted in a "fair, objective and transparent manner".

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: "The manufacture of these new trains will not only revolutionise rail travel in London, they will deliver jobs and economic growth in their birthplace in Derby and across the UK."

Rail upgrades

There had previously been calls for the government to hand the Crossrail project to a British company, ensuring the money and jobs stays in this country, but the government insisted it had to come to the decision through the proper channels.

Crossrail is due to run from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport in the west of the capital to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east. It is one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects the UK has ever seen.

The government says that capacity on the rail network in London will be boosted by ten per cent as a result of the Crossrail scheme, which paves the way for the high speed rail programme that is set to link London and cities further north such as Birmingham and Manchester.

But the high speed scheme has been dogged by controversy due to the high amount of money that is being spent on the programme, which critics suggest could be better used in other areas.

Stocks in Bombardier rose by around two per cent on the back of the announcement.

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