…ready to build trains
Spanish train manufacturer CAF announces plans to build trains in a new factory in South Wales.
Spanish manufacturer CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) has confirmed it will start building trains in a new factory in south Wales.
The facility will be built at Celtic Business Park, a 100-acre industrial development on the site of the former Llanwern steelworks. The company plans to create 300 jobs, 200 of which will be in position when the factory opens in autumn 2018.
The site has been chosen because of links to roads, rail and ports, and the availability of local skills. CAF is spending £30 million to get the site up-and-running, and has received grant support from the Welsh Government’s Inward Investment Programme.
Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones called the announcement a “major coup for Wales and a big vote of confidence in Wales’ manufacturing industry”.
He added: “We are, once again, competing and beating others on the world stage to secure significant investment to Wales.
“This £30m investment is a major economic boost that we hope will kick-start the growth of our rail sector and create hundreds of highly skilled, very well-paid jobs.”
CAF said it aims to build both trams and trains at the site. The company is targeting contracts with London Underground, Docklands Light Railway and HS2, as well as the Wales and Borders, West Midlands and South Eastern franchises. Previously all the vehicles it has built for the UK have been constructed in Spain.
The new factory will be more than 46,000m2 in size. It will be designed so that CAF can build diesel multiple units, electric multiple units and high speed trains. Recruitment begins in the spring.
CAF’s UK Director Richard Garner said: “The factory will have the flexibility to allow us to respond to the exacting demands of both existing and new customers, by providing the most complete offering of any rolling stock provider operating in the UK.”
CAF has supplied the trams for Edinburgh’s tram system and the Midland Metro.
It currently has contracts to build 31 three-car and 12 four-car EMUs and 25 two-car and 30 threecar DMUs for the next Northern franchise, 12 five-car EMUs and 66 coaches for TransPennine Express, and 75 coaches for Caledonian Sleeper.
“CAF is an established supplier to the UK market, and we now have a solid economic basis for further increasing our footprint in the UK,” added Garner. “The establishment of this facility will serve CAF’s long-term aspirations to be a major player in the UK market for many years to come.”
CAF plans to develops a “cluster” of local and national companies to supply components for its trains in the UK.
CAF has bought BWB, one of the leading design engineering consultants in the UK. The latter employs more than 300 staff across seven offices and has an annual turnover of more than £23 million.
CAF will acquire BWB in a phased deal over three years. In a statement, it said the terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
The management team at BWB is staying with the company. It will remain a standalone business, but will be positioned alongside CAF Group’s engineering subsidiary CAF TE.