Alstom, the UK’s leading supplier of new and refurbished trains, and a major provider of signalling and rail infrastructure, hosted Prime Minister Andy Burnham in his second week in office at its Litchurch Lane Works factory in Derby, where he announced the launch of new technical education routes.
During the visit, the Prime Minister met around 100 current and former apprentices and graduates from Alstom and its supply chain partners, including Derby-born Chloe Turnbull and Walsall-born Yasha Sidiqui, and witnessed the specialist training provided to engineers and technicians across its 36 UK sites. Alstom’s National Training Academy is supporting the company’s current cohort of 120 trainee apprentices and graduates.
Chloe changed jobs aged 23 and went from working in a pharmacy to joining Alstom as an apprentice, following her family before her, and is now a Process Engineer overseeing the manufacture of ten Class 345 Aventra trains for London’s Elizabeth line.
Meanwhile, Yasha was named Graduate of the Year at the 2025 RailStaff Awards. She completed graduate placements across the site’s Engineering teams and is now a Product Cost Engineer, a role that sees her exploring ideas at the design stage of new trains to deliver ever greater whole-life value for trains that can operate on the network for 30-35 years.
Chloe said: “It was such a privilege speaking with the Prime Minister. He was interested in everything he saw and wished everyone the very best in their careers.”
Yasha added: “I am only a few years into my career, but it has already been so rewarding. Rail can be overlooked as a career choice; my hope is that the Prime Minister’s support for rail helps change that.”
Careers like Chloe’s and Yasha’s are built across Alstom’s UK network. From Crewe, where bogies and traction motors are overhauled, to Sutton-in-Ashfield, which designs and manufactures passenger and onboard systems, and Plymouth, which exports signalling technology across six continents, Alstom supports over 60 per cent of the country’s operational train fleets. Alstom also used the visit to show the Prime Minister how the company already backs British industry.
“We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet to Derby Litchurch Lane Works to meet apprentices and graduates and showcase the future of UK train building, based in the city that will be home to Great British Railways,” said Rob Whyte, Managing Director UK at Alstom.
He added: “Rail can be a core driver of reindustrialising Britain. Last year alone we spent over £720 million with almost 1,300 British businesses, supporting close to 11,000 British jobs in our supply chain. Plus, we are bolstering Britain’s railway with £35 million of our own investment in Adessia, our new generation train, designed and engineered at Alstom in Derby to support GBR in achieving its objectives.”
“The Prime Minister plans to use public procurement to back British industry, and rail shows how that can deliver skills, jobs and economic growth at every level of the supply chain, in every part of the country.”
Alstom’s contribution to the UK over the last year includes:
- Directly employing nearly 4,900 staff across 36 sites
- Nearly 11,000 jobs supported across the country through its supply chain
- Supporting close to £1 billion in GDP
- Over £720 million spent with almost 1,300 British-based suppliers
- 33 per cent of this spend with UK-based SMEs
- Around £100 million exported by UK suppliers to Alstom entities in 37 countries
- £191.5 million of social value delivery
The Prime Minister’s visit came almost a year to the day since the Litchurch Lane hosted The Greatest Gathering, a landmark festival and the centrepiece of last year’s nationwide Railway 200 campaign, commemorating 200 years of the modern passenger railway since the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825. Over three days, more than 40,000 visitors from around the world saw over 140 historic and modern locomotives and carriages – the world’s largest-ever gathering of rolling stock and rail-related exhibits.
Lead image: UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham; Baggy Shanker MP, Derby South; UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden; and UK Secretary State for Education Lucy Powell meeting Alstom apprentices and graduates at Derby Litchurch Lane Works (Credit – Alstom/Steve Baker)
