Nearly 1,500 staff given notice after company loses key contract to Siemens
Montreal-based Bombardier Transportation has cut nearly 1,500 jobs at its Derby rail centre, the last railcar factory in Britain. The layoffs were announced after the company lost a £1.4 billion contract to Germany’s Siemens AG last month to build new passenger trains for a massive new rail service in southeast England. Bombardier, the world’s biggest trainmaker, has handed out 90-day notices to 446 permanent staff members and 983 temporary workers. The company’s U.K. chairman hinted that more job losses were on the way because of the contract loss. The Derby site will lose its status as the top train-making centre in Europe in the fall, when Bombardier’s other contracts come to an end. It is doubtful that the company will win enough new contracts to keep the rail site in full use.