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Alstom to Build UK's First Battery Trains for Main Lines in Derby

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Alstom will build 29 battery-electric TransPennine Express trains at its Derby factory under a near-£1bn deal, supporting more than 6,350 UK jobs.

Britain's first battery-electric trains for long-distance main line services will be assembled at Alstom's Litchurch Lane plant in Derby, the Department for Transport has confirmed. Construction of the fleet is scheduled to start in 2028, with the first units expected to carry passengers in 2034.

The order covers 29 Adessia Stream trains and is backed by an investment of close to £1bn. According to the government, the programme will sustain more than 350 roles at Alstom and around 6,000 further jobs across suppliers throughout the country. The trains will be purchased by rolling stock firm Rock Rail and then leased to operator TransPennine Express.

Andy Burnham said the fleet would bring "faster, more reliable journeys to the north and thousands of British jobs for the next generation". He described the daily impact of unreliable services on passengers. "I've lost count of the number of times someone has stopped me to tell me about the train that never came," he said. "And when that happens, it means missed shifts, missed appointments, and missed opportunities. Today, that starts to change."

Cutting journey times across the Pennines

The new fleet forms part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade, which aims to raise capacity by 30% and add thousands of extra seats each day across the Pennines by the early to mid-2030s. The trains are due to run on routes linking Liverpool Lime Street with Scarborough, Manchester Airport with Saltburn, and Manchester Piccadilly with Hull.

The Department for Transport said travel times would fall by as much as 10 minutes between Manchester and Leeds, and by up to 14 minutes between Manchester and York. Where the network has not been electrified and services currently rely on diesel power, the battery-electric units will be able to operate without producing emissions. Step-free boarding is also being promised across the fleet.

A boost for Derby's rail heritage

The agreement lands at a difficult moment for Alstom, which operates the largest rolling stock manufacturing site outside China. In 2024 the company won a £370m deal to build 10 trains for London's Elizabeth line. That contract came fewer than three months after a redundancy consultation placed 1,300 jobs at the Litchurch Lane site under threat. The factory has been making trains since 1876.

Rob Whyte, Alstom's managing director in the UK, called the deal a "landmark moment for Britain's railway". He said the news mattered well beyond the company itself. "We're absolutely delighted. It's fantastic news for Alstom as a company but also for the city of Derby and the East Midlands," he said. "It's a great opportunity for us to continue our legacy."

Whyte acknowledged a gap in production before the new work ramps up. "We have a period where new builds will stop until the TransPennine order starts, but we've already taken on some refurbishment works for CrossCountry and for ScotRail and we'll look to transfer as many people as we can into that area," he said.

The Unite union welcomed the announcement. General secretary Sharon Graham said it would bring a "huge relief to Alstom's Derby workers and those in the supply chain", adding that "Unite's Alstom members have worked tirelessly in campaigning to ensure Derby's proud history of train making continues well into the future".

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander spoke to the BBC at the Alstom site, standing beside one of the new Elizabeth line trains. "It's fantastic news that a city like Derby, that's got such a proud railway heritage, is also going to be manufacturing that new fleet of trains for the north of England as well," she said. "It is good news."

Alstom, battery-electric trains, Litchurch Lane Derby, TransPennine Express, TransPennine Route Upgrade, Adessia Stream, UK rail manufacturing, Rock Rail

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