Date: 17/06/2012

Siemens expects to finalise the £1.4bn Thameslink trains contract this summer, amid renewed calls to halt the process and award the deal to the Bombardier plant in Derby. On the first anniversary of the controversial decision to give a large procurement contract to a German manufacturer, Siemens said the agreement is close to being signed. The trains will be built at the company's Krefeld plant near Dsseldorf, which has led to calls by trade unions for government-backed manufacturing contracts togo to British businesses in the future.

External links

Siemens' £1.4bn Thameslink trains contract close to being signed

Guardian

Union urges government to favour Bombardier and British jobs as German firm brushes aside finance doubts

Related images

One of the original Thameslink- liveried dual voltage class 319 sets pulls into platform 1 at Kentish Town on 21 July 2005 with a Luton - Sutton service.
Location: Kentish Town
Company: London Extension (Midland Railway)
21/07/2005 John Furnevel

View south towards the Thames along platform 4 at Blackfriars station in August 1993. 319179 is standing at the platform with a Thameslink service.
Location: Blackfriars
Company: London, Chatham and Dover Railway
28/08/1993 Bill Roberton

A terminated Thameslink 319 service from the south stands at St Albans on 19 September.
Location: St Albans City
Company: London Extension (Midland Railway)
19/09/2010 Veronica Clibbery