ALSTOM WORKERS WALK AWAY FROM JOBS OVER UNCERTAINTY

He is joining another 95 – many of whom have worked at the factory since their first job – who also left this week, bringing the total to have taken voluntary redundancy in the past few weeks to around 250 from the factory.

Up to 500 zero hours short-term workers have already been let go.

This has all come about because of a gap in the production line at the factory when the last Aventra electric multiple unit (EMU) for West Midlands Trains rolled off the line on March 21, not to be replaced by anything until HS2 is due to come on stream in 2025-26.

After months of debate, talks and a last-minute citywide campaign urging the Government to act, Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced that additional money had been found for

10 more Elizabeth Line trains, which Alstom had previously said would keep a production line going for the time being.

The deal is still on the table, and the company has until the end of May to decide if it wants to take up the offer.

In the middle of all the drama of the past few weeks, Mr Spencer said that for the sake of his family, he needed to resolve the future uncertainty, which even the offer of a deal had failed to do.

He said: “It’s a real wrench and a really hard decision to leave a job that I love after so long. But I have been lucky and managed to secure a rail engineering job with Hitachi at Etches Park in Derby, and also leave with a redundancy payment.

“But not everyone can find another job and many are leaving engineering, which is a great shame. We are getting to the point at Alstom now where you look for someone who would normally help solve a production problem and there is no one there – just a gap.

“It’s a risk to leave but it seems an even bigger risk to stay. It’s been like living on a knife-edge.

“Talking to people and knowing you are working with them for the last time made me feel quite tearful.”

Mr Spencer spoke as Labour’s Shadow Minister for rail, Stephen Morgan, above, toured the plant and in the wake of an announcement on Thursday that Labour, if it won the next General Election, would push through a Rail Reform Act which would help to manage train procurement more efficiently and also seek to renationalise the railways.

Labour has also said it would ensure that Great British Railways, originally proposed by the Conservative Government to oversee the day-to-day running of the rail network nationally, would continue and take an even bigger role than previously planned.

It was Mr Morgan’s third visit to Alstom in the past few months and he said it demonstrated how seriously Labour was taking Derby’s almost 200year history of train making.

He said: “I really still sense that people are worried about their jobs and that many have families who have worked here previously. I am not going to be reassured for the future until that deal is done.”

Rob Kniveton, welding team leader and chair of Unite at the factory, said: “There was an all-employees meeting on Tuesday and that seemed to lift the mood of many. But all too quickly, an air of doom and gloom descends again because everyone just seems to be waiting to know if the deal is being signed or not. “

Trade union official Tony Tinley said morale was quite low and that it was extremely quiet in the factory.

He said: “The company has not withdrawn the redundancy notices to its 1,300 workers so far because nothing has been settled.

“A large number of people are deciding to leave and taking their skills with them, and many are not finding their way into engineering elsewhere. So it’s a waiting game for those who are left. Dither and delay by the Government had led to this situation.”

Alstom is not commenting on the situation currently while the terms are the deal are being thrashed out. But previously it issued a statement thanking people for their support.

It also said: “We are now in a period of intense discussions with the Government and Transport for London about a potential train order for the Elizabeth Line, given the levels of passenger demand.

“This could help secure the future of the Litchurch Lane site. The parties have agreed to conclude discussions as soon as possible and no later than the end of May.”