GMI Built Siemens Mobility Factory opens its doors

The #GMIBuilt Siemens Mobility rail components facility has been officially opened by Rt Hon Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The official cutting of the ribbon was delivered during a ceremony last week in the traction drive area of the £7m high-facility by the Minister and Sambit Banerjee, managing director for rolling stock and customer services at Siemens Mobility

For over two years, GMI has been at the front and centre of the major levelling up project in East Riding, with over 70% of the supply chain based in Yorkshire creating the logistical spaces that will provide the trains for the Piccadilly rail line in London.

“This is a brilliant example of levelling up because we have Goole, an area which is rich in talent but historically hasn’t always had the investment that it deserves getting a world-class company moving in here with a state-of-the-art facility starting by recruiting locally,” said Mr Gove.

“This includes very impressive young apprentices and then planning to scale up significantly and also the future of transport is being shaped here.”

The components facility, which was previously operating out of Leeds, already employs 40 full-time staff, including five apprentices from the region. Siemens says the new dedicated 43,000sq ft space will allow the state-of-the-art facility to take on the maintenance of further components in the future. Much of the work now done at the site in Goole had previously taken place in mainland Europe.

From next year London Underground’s new Piccadilly line trains will assembled at Goole before they start entering passenger service from 2025.

Sambit Banerjee added: “Investment in the rail industry is essential for not only boosting growth, but ensuring we have the capabilities to design, manufacture and maintain the different parts of our rail system here in the UK. What’s more, our state-of-the-art rail village will enable us to drive forward a smarter, greener and more digital rail network.”

Andy Hurcomb, GMI’s Divisional Managing Director for Yorkshire, said: “This is a scheme that GMI is so proud to have completed on behalf of Siemens Mobility. Delivered by what is nearly an exclusive Yorkshire supply chain base and making an impact in London on the rail network is a true levelling up project and one that’s been really enjoyable to deliver. We have developed a very close relationship with Siemens Mobility over this period and we are looking forward to that growing even further in the future.”