{"id":490922,"date":"2026-07-29T02:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=197090"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:27:00","slug":"prime-minister-visits-alstoms-litchurch-lane-factory-in-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=490922","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister visits Alstom\u2019s Litchurch Lane factory in Derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s National Training Academy is supporting the company\u2019s current cohort of 120 trainee apprentices and graduates.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Elizabeth line.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Yasha was named Graduate of the Year<\/u><\/a> at the 2025 RailStaff Awards. She completed graduate placements across the site\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Chloe said: \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yasha added: \u201cI 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\u2019s support for rail helps change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s operational train fleets. Alstom also used the visit to show the Prime Minister how the company already backs British industry.<\/p>\n

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Adessia is the next evolution of Alstom’s popular Aventra train platform, offering a \u2018traction agnostic\u2019 and lightweight \u2018go anywhere\u2019 design that will be built in Derby (Credit \u2013 Alstom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham learns torque tightening skills with Alstom apprentice’s at the company’s National Training Academy at Derby Litchurch Lane Works (Credit \u2013 Alstom\/Steve Baker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d said Rob Whyte, Managing Director UK at Alstom.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cRail can be a core driver of reindustrialising Britain. Last year alone we spent over \u00a3720 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 \u00a335 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alstom\u2019s contribution to the UK over the last year includes:<\/p>\n