Alstom and Siemens on HS2 trains shortlist

France’s Alstom and Germany’s Siemens are among the firms short listed to make trains to run on Britain’s new High Speed 2 network, the railway’s developer said yesterday.

Bombardier Transportation, Hitachi R ail Europe and Spain’s Patentes Talgo are also on the shortlist of bidders for the £ 2.75 billion contract.

China’ s state-owned CRRC, the world’s biggest trainmaker with increasingly international ambitions, is not on the list.

The contract is to build at least 54 trains for the network, which is set to link London to the north of England from 2026, and it also covers the design and maintenance of the fleet.

The new trains will operate at speeds of up to 225 miles per hour, HS2 said, adding that the rail project as a whole would create around 25,000 jobs.

“Thousands of skilled British jobs and appren - ticeships will be created by HS2, which gets a step closer as we reveal the companies shortlisted to build the high speed trains ,” Paul Maynard, minister for rail and HS2, said.