Alstom will build 29 battery-electric trains at its Derby factory as part of an investment worth around £1bn, creating a long-term production programme for Britain’s rail manufacturing supply chain.
The trains will be used by TransPennine Express on services across northern England and are intended to become the UK’s first battery-electric fleet designed for long-distance mainline operation.
Alstom values the agreements at more than €1.2bn, including approximately €930m for rolling stock and around €230m for associated maintenance.
The five-car trains will be designed, engineered, built, and tested at the company’s Litchurch Lane site in Derby. The government expects the programme to support more than 350 jobs at Alstom and almost 6,000 positions across the wider UK supply chain.
Alstom expects at least £360m of the programme to be spent with British suppliers, extending the industrial impact beyond the final assembly site.
Rob Whyte, Alstom’s managing director for the UK, described the agreement as “a landmark moment for Britain’s railway”.
Manufacturing is expected to begin in 2028, with the trains planned to enter passenger service from winter 2034 as work progresses on the Transpennine Route Upgrade.
The rolling stock will be capable of operating at up to 110mph and carrying around 300 seated passengers. Battery power will allow trains to operate without direct emissions on sections without overhead electrification, while charging facilities are planned at Hull, Scarborough, and Saltburn.
The procurement is significant for Derby because rail manufacturing depends on a production pipeline extending years beyond the point at which an order is signed. Design, engineering, supplier contracting, testing, certification, skills development, and factory preparation begin well before completed trains reach passengers.
Long gaps between major contracts can create pressure on specialist workforces and component suppliers even when the country has substantial future demand for rolling stock. Experienced rail engineers and certified suppliers cannot always be rebuilt quickly once capacity has been lost.
A multi-year order therefore provides greater visibility for Alstom and businesses supplying components, systems, engineering services, and other specialist products to the Derby operation.
The project also connects transport procurement with the government’s wider industrial ambitions. Large public and regulated infrastructure programmes can support domestic manufacturing when purchasing schedules provide sufficient certainty for companies to invest in people, equipment, and supply chains.
Alstom is expected to take on at least 36 apprentices and 36 T Level students during the programme, adding a skills component to the manufacturing commitment.
The trains themselves address a different infrastructure problem: how to reduce diesel use on routes that are only partly electrified.
Installing conventional overhead electrification across an entire railway can involve substantial civil engineering, power infrastructure, bridge modifications, planning work, and disruption to services. Battery-equipped trains can use existing electric infrastructure where it is available and bridge unelectrified sections without relying continuously on diesel traction.
The approach does not remove the case for conventional electrification on heavily used routes, where fixed infrastructure can remain the most efficient long-term solution. It does provide another option for sections where continuous wiring is difficult, expensive, or scheduled for a later phase.
The Transpennine programme is intended to increase capacity as well as reduce emissions. Government plans for the wider route upgrade include more frequent services, additional seats, and shorter journey times between major northern cities.
Rail improvements between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Hull, Scarborough, and the North East have wider economic consequences because journey reliability and capacity influence labour markets, business travel, city-centre development, and the ability of companies to recruit across a broader area.
The maintenance component extends the commercial effect beyond the initial manufacturing period. Alstom’s agreement is expected to run for an initial eight years, with scope for an extension, supporting additional employment once the trains enter service.
The long delivery timetable means the immediate passenger benefits remain several years away. The industrial programme starts much sooner as engineering, procurement, training, factory planning, and supply chain activity build towards production.
For Derby, the contract provides a substantial order book extending into the next decade. For national rail policy, it also tests whether battery traction can become a practical part of decarbonising routes where the network will continue to combine electrified and unelectrified infrastructure.
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