Fife frontrunner in race to secure up to 1,000 jobs

£40 million factory could be sited at former power station

Fife is a frontrunner in the race to secure up to 1,000 new jobs thanks to the creation of a new train manufacturing plant, The Courier understands.

Spanish firm Talgo has pinpointed the former power station at Longannet as one of six potential UK sites for a new £40 million factory from which to build high-speed trains.

Hunterston in Ayrshire, Mosytn in north Wales, and Chesterfield, St Helens and Leeds are also in the running, but the existing skills base in Fife, as well as talent emerging through local colleges and universities, has put the kingdom in a strong position.

If the Fife site is selected, it would be a huge boost for an area still reeling from the hammer blow of the power station’s closure in March 2016.

Fife Council co-leader David Alexander said: “If this works, and we’ll know by November, you are looking at a game changer – not just for Fife but for Clackmannanshire, the ports at Rosyth and Grangemouth, and further afield.”

A final decision is expected next month.

Up to 1,000 jobs could be created in Fife, after Longannet was shortlisted as a potential site for a new train manufacturing plant.

Sources have told The Courier the former power station – which closed in March 2016 – is understood to be leading the pack of six possible UK locations whittled down by Spanish company Talgo for its new £40 million venture.

The rolling stock engineer had previously confirmed it was looking at sites near Chesterfield, St Helens and Leeds, as well as Mostyn in North Wales, but it has now added Longannet and Hunterston in Ayrshire as potential sites north of the border.

A final decision is expected next month but the investment – which could create 1,000 jobs directly and up to six times that many in the supply chain – would be a massive boost for an area which was dealt a huge setback when ScottishPower closed Longannet two-and-a-half years ago with the loss of 370 jobs.

Jon Veitch, Talgo UK business development director, admitted the skills base built up in west Fife, through companies such as BAE Systems at Rosyth, and the talent coming through the local college and university systems would be plus points for Longannet, adding that the “connectivity” the area has to offer would also appeal.

“This is all about establishing for the long-term, because we see that there is a growing market, particularly in Canada, Africa and Australia,” he said.

“We see exports out to those areas, long-term.”

Mr Veitch added that the factory has the potential to supply people who can be “skilled up” to meet the needs of building trains that can run at up to 235mph. “It will be a true factory, not just an assembly facility,” he added. “That’s raw materials, design, and it’s for a lasting legacy with a long-term view of exporting.”

Nearly all the 370 workers made redundant at Longannet have since gone on to find new employment or training opportunities, but the question of what should become of the vast site still lingers.

However, Talgo’s interest has been sparked as it seeks a suitable site from which to build its high-speed trains in the UK.

Talgo was shortlisted to build the 54 classic compatible trains for High Speed 2 (HS2) project in a £2.75 billion deal, while it is also interested in the East Midlands and West Coast Partnership deals.

The firm was also looking to bid for new trains for the CrossCountry franchise until that competition was stopped following the announcement of a rail review in September.

Carlos de Palacio, president of Talgo, has personally gone on fact-finding missions to each of the sites and was impressed with what all six had to offer.

“The establishment of a manufacturing facility in the UK is a significant part of Talgo’s future strategy,” he said.

“Although there can only be one factory site, we have developed excellent relationships with areas that we have visited. We anticipate continuing these relationships to ensure that Talgo provides opportunity across the UK.”

All too often in recent years, the news from the Fife industrial front has made for depressing reading. The so-called Battle for Bifab dominated the headlines for much of 2017, before hundreds of workers were sacked at the engineering firm’s Burntisland and Methil yards.

The year before, hundreds of jobs were lost as Scottish Power axed its Longannet power station. Hundreds more went with the closure of the Markinch-based paper maker Tullis Russell in 2015.

Many of the workers affected by these large-scale job losses have gone on to take up an assortment of new posts and training opportunities but Fife’s changing industrial landscape has been in need of a boost.

So the suggestion that the kingdom could land up to 1,000 new highly-skilled engineering jobs has understandably raised spirits.

The former Longannet site is one of six across the UK on a shortlist for the location of a £40 million train manufacturing plant.

Spanish rolling stock engineer Talgo is expected to make a final decision on where to site its factory next month but bosses say Fife’s skills base and location make it a frontrunner.

There is everything to play for and competition will be fierce, but the potential benefits are enormous and Fife’s strength and resilience have never been in doubt.

Picture: Getty Images. Longannet Power Station was closed in 2016 but could be on the verge of a new lease of life.