POTENTIAL SITE FOR A SPANISH TRAIN MANUFACTURERS UK BASE

The Port of Mostyn has been selected as a potential site for a Spanish manufacturers UK base.

The Port of Mostyn has been selected as a potential site for a Spanish train manufacturer’s UK base in a move which could create 1,000 jobs.

Talgo says it aims to enter the UK train market, through ‘true manufacturing’ – instead of assembling kits of parts from overseas, the company wants to source components from within the United Kingdom.

The firm, which already has a presence in 28 countries including Spain, Germany, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States, has been shortlisted to build the 54 for High Speed 2 (HS2) in a £2.75bn deal,

There are five other shortlisted locations; three are in England and two are in Scotland.

A Talgo spokesperson said:

“All locations share great connectivity, would receive a major boost from job creation, and have the potential to supply people that can be skilled-up to meet the needs of building trains that can run at up to 235mph.”

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“North East Wales with its long history of manufacturing expertise and its wide skills base has a huge amount to offer Talgo as the location for its UK train manufacturing facility, and we would be delighted to welcome this prestigious company to the region.

Over the last 18 months both I and Welsh Government officials have worked extremely closely with Talgo and the Port of Mostyn to help make this unique opportunity a reality.

All our collective hard work has only served to confirm my belief that together we can deliver a world class and long term manufacturing home for Talgo.

This is a tough race with a huge prize of up to 1000 jobs at the end but I remain hopeful that Talgo will make the right decision for itself and for North East Wales and choose Mostyn as the location for its UK base.”

Jim OToole, Managing Director of Mostyn Port said:

“The Port of Mostyn greatly welcomes being considered by Talgo as a site for their proposed U.K locomotive and rolling stock manufacturing facility.

For the past eighteen months we have been working closely with Welsh Government to identify and satisfy Talgo’s requirements and believe we can now offer them an ideal manufacturing site.

This site has a direct connection to the main railway network for new trains to be delivered directly to Talgo’s U.K. customers together with adjacent port facilities for their future export programmes.

If Mostyn is chosen by Talgo we will look forward to working closely with them to ensure the success in their investment in the U.K”

A final decision on a factory site is anticipated in November 2018.

October 2018