(Newton Aycliffe and
Spennymoor) (Lab):...I want to start with the Hitachi train
factory in my constituency. I campaigned on it for two and a half
years, and it is a source of huge pride. Many of us in this House
spend a lot of our lives on trains and any of us who have
travelled with London North Eastern Railway, Great Western
Railway, Avanti, East Midlands Railway or ScotRail will probably
have been on a train built in my home town of Newton Aycliffe.
That is a source of huge pride to the 750 workers who operate the
plant, but also to the 1,500 people who work in highly skilled
engineering jobs in the local supply chain. I am incredibly
grateful to the work of the Prime Minister, FirstGroup
Angel Trains and others who came together to arrange a £0.5
billion deal to help secure the future of the factory. It is
important because that factory sits on the line of the original
Darlington to Stockton railway, the world's first passenger
railway, which celebrates its 200th anniversary next year. That
is incredibly exciting, and I am sure we can agree across the
House that if 200 years ago we were leading the world in
passenger rail, we as a country can do that again now. It has
been fantastic to secure that factory, and I look forward to
working with ministerial colleagues and others as we continue to
ensure it goes from strength to strength...
