Conservative mayoral candidate Guy Renner-Thompson on Hitachi

First of all I want lead a railway renaissance in the North East. I’ve seen firsthand how our local Conservative team can deliver new rail services with the new Northumberland Line running from Newcastle to Ashington.

I can do the same with the Leamside Line which runs from Gateshead to County Durham. Re-opening Leamside will enable parts of the region, who have no access to rail, to be connected with Newcastle, Sunderland and Teesside, as well as with significant employers like Nissan and Amazon.

The East Coast Main Line runs down the spine of the region, but the priority has been fast trains between London and Edinburgh at the expense of local stopping services. I will prioritise a regular stopping service north of Newcastle calling at all stations including a re-opened Belford station. By investing in passing loops we can have a local service without compromising on intercity connectivity.

The Northumberland Line passenger service will be extended with a station at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and the potential for a station at Lynemouth to support the development of the former Alcan Aluminium Smelter site.

I will work with the Government on the business case for heavy rail services to Newcastle Airport, upgrades to the Tyne Valley and Durham Coast lines; new rail services between Newcastle and Consett, and major investments in Sunderland and Newcastle Central stations.

I will expand the metro with the Washington Metro Loop. The 13·5 km loop would link the existing Tyne & Wear Metro stations at Pelaw and South Hylton via Washington, serving the UK’s ’fourth largest town without access to a rail service’. I will also seek expansion to Cobalt Business Park and Team Valley, the Metro Centre, and lengthening the line at Newcastle Airport into Ponteland.

And with this expansion of rail services in the North East, I want it written into the procurement of new rolling stock that it takes into account the jobs and the taxes that stay in the region if those trains and carriages are made here in the North East.

Our government is currently providing £337 million of funding to Nexus to support the £362 million introduction of a new Metro train fleet and maintenance depot, expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2024. It was a tragedy that Labour politicians in the North East gave that contract to a company to make the trains in Switzerland instead of Newton Aycliffe.

If elected the plight of the Hitachi plant and its workers will be at the top of my in-tray. I will work with the British Government to secure more orders for the factory.

But our future lies not just in the U.K. The Mayor also acts as an ambassador to the world, touting for foreign businesses for our companies. I will fly the flag for Hitachi in the North East across the globe and make sure overseas governments and rail companies know the best trains in the world are produced in Newton Aycliffe.

Recommended reading: 

• Shadow Chancellor vows to keep up pressure to save Hitachi from becoming 'wreckage'

• Newton Aycliffe Hitachi plant reaches crisis point with orders

• Shadow transport secretary call for action over Hitachi

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Hitachi Newton Aycliffe isn’t just a factory. It’s one of the sponsors for University Technical College (UTC) South Durham, which educates 600 14 – 19 year olds and specialises in science, technology, engineering, and maths. Education is the key to a decent future for our young people and I want to support and expand South Durham UTC and open new technical colleges.

This is why Hitachi and companies like it are so important to the future of the North East and our young people, and why I will do everything in my power to support Hitachi Newton Aycliffe now and in the year