How Goole could become the next centre of global innovation in rail manufacturing

The boss of the new Siemens rail manufacturing facility in Goole, Finbarr Dowling, explains why Yorkshire can be a global leader in the rail industry.
Finbarr Dowling, director of localisation at Siemens Mobility.Finbarr Dowling, director of localisation at Siemens Mobility.
Finbarr Dowling, director of localisation at Siemens Mobility.

An upcoming rail manufacturing facility in Goole is hoping to be the catalyst that makes Yorkshire the go-to place for collaboration in global rail developments.

Siemens Mobility is set to start work in May on a “rail village” in East Yorkshire, that will also be home to an innovation cluster.

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Siemens has tasked Finbarr Dowling, who successfully set up the German manufacturer’s offshore wind turbine factory in Hull, with replicating that achievement in the rail industry.

The director of localisation at Siemens Mobility believes that Siemens can have an even bigger impact with the £200m rail manufacturing facility when it opens in the summer of 2023.

He said: “We think that this site in Goole can be very much at the epicentre of a thriving rail industry in the UK, that’s solving problems not just in the North of England but across the country.”

The factory will start off making tube trains for London Underground’s Piccadilly Line. In November 2018, London Underground signed a £1.5bn contract with Siemens Mobility to design and build 94 new generation tube trains to replace the existing 1970s fleet on the line.

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However, it’ll be more than just a manufacturing facility. An innovation centre will very much be a focal point at the Goole 36 industrial site.

Siemens is already working with UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) – a group of universities and businesses pushing new developments in the rail industry.

Mr Dowling cites the positive impact that the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has had on Rotherham as an example of what Siemens would like to achieve with its factory in Goole.

“Just on a personal level, the AMRC is always inspirational when you go and see it because I think it’s one of those hidden gems,” he said.

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“There’s a lot of talk in the UK in general about how we don’t manufacture anymore. If you go to the AMRC you see it’s just outstanding. For us it provides a direction of travel. The similarities are there.”

In the initial phase around 300 jobs will be created at the facility in Goole. However, once the rest of the site is up and running, including the innovation centre, it’s expected to create around 700 jobs.

However, Siemens has been in a similar position before with its offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility.

“I remember we said 700 at the time for Hull and we ended up with 1,200, so you never know how these things pan out,” Mr Dowling said.

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He is confident that the region has the talent to be able to meet its demands when the facility is up and running.

Siemens will also be taking a proactive approach to developing the talent pipeline, Mr Dowling said, just as it did with its Hull development.

He added: “We see ourselves as not just sitting there waiting for the talent to come to us, but the remit is to get out there to develop the talent pipeline.

“Specifically, one of my main targets for Goole is to really address the whole topic of inclusivity.

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“What I mean by that is we want Goole to be a site where there are people from every background, no matter what their gender, no matter what their sexuality is, no matter whether they have a disability or not. We want to be able to attract the best talent.”

Mr Dowling is also keen on encouraging more girls to continue studying science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

He added that Siemens was also looking at providing crèches at the new site in Goole.

When asked why the German manufacturer had chosen Goole, Mr Dowling said: “Why not Goole?”

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He added that Goole offered plenty of space and a good skills base, as well as good transport links.

Mr Dowling believes that there is “a lot to go at”, whether that is carrying out high-speed testing or developing battery technologies for trains.

The innovation centre will focus on robotics, artificial intelligence and data analytics. Mr Dowling said: “Data analytics is very important because the newer trains are boxes of data, effectively.”

Data could hold the key to helping alleviate some of the immediate problems currently faced by the rail infrastructure in the North, he added.

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“We’re excited about the fact that there are people today who don’t work in the rail industry,” he said, “and they’re probably not aware of it but they will have the skills that are very applicable to the rail industry.”

Having seen first-hand how advances in technology have changed the offshore wind industry for the better, Mr Dowling sees no reason why the same can’t happen in the rail industry.

“There’s so much more you can do on data,” he said. “If you take windpower, it’s a brilliant example of how data analytics is used today on offshore wind that has enabled the industry to drive down the cost of offshore wind to the point where it is almost subsidy-free and is a huge success story for this country.

He added: “The turbines will speak remotely to people sitting in darkened control centres in the UK. They are able to understand themselves what’s going on – they’re able to self-diagnose. Interventions can be made remotely that don’t involve high-cost interventions with people going out to sea or having to go on a helicopter. We can have all of that in the rail industry going forward.”

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To ensure the site in Goole becomes a multiplier for supply-chain partners in the rail industry, Siemens is pushing for it to be given freeport status.

Mr Dowling said: “We think that freeport status for Goole would be a great thing as long as it’s not just restricted to the immediate environments of the port. Freeport status for the broader Goole 36 would be exceptionally attractive to not just the people who are there today, but future manufacturers as well.”

Adapting to work outside the EU

Siemens, like many businesses, wanted to remain in the European Union but the manufacturer will now look forward to adapting to the new conditions it faces.

Finbarr Dowling, director of localisation at Siemens Mobility, said: “Obviously, things that would worry us would be too much deviation from existing standards. Standards are really important in the industry.

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“We don’t necessarily mean rules and regulations but technical standards, governance standards, health and safety standards. These are things that are well established and work well.

“We accept that Brexit is being done; we will continue to do what we can to make sure that post-Brexit we’re a part of a thriving, dynamic economy.”

Given that the process of leaving the EU has only just started, there is still uncertainty as to how any future relationship will pan out.

“We’re not sitting around waiting every day to see what the consequences of this, that or the other will be. We’ll cross those things when we get there,” he said.

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“We’ll continue to work very closely with our colleagues in Europe. Siemens has been in the United Kingdom for 173 years.

“We were here a long time before the European Union, we will be here a long time after. But we are obviously a German company as well; we have a lot of close ties with Germany and Austria and we’ll be looking to maintain those and work in collaboration with our colleagues and friends in Europe.”