Siemens Mobility hires record numbers of apprentices as plans to turn Goole into rail manufacturing force accelerate

The recruitment includes 22 apprentices – the highest number of apprentices recruited by Siemens Mobility in the UK for a single site in a year – and comes as the development in East Yorkshire gears up to becoming fully operational.

Siemens Mobility is investing up to £200 million in the rail village at Goole, a site that spans 67 acres, the size of 35 football pitches. Last year, a rail components facility opened on the site as part of the wider project.

It is intended that the overall investment will create 700 new jobs, with a further 250 roles during the construction phase and an additional 1,700 indirect supply chain opportunities promoting localisation and helping to serve other global markets by 2030.

In 2021, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the investment would turn Goole into “one of the great European centres of train-making”.

The new trainees are aged between 16 and 26 and have been hired for roles in fields including manufacturing, logistics and warehousing and materials control. More than half of the new starters are from the Goole area, with most of the others from the wider Yorkshire region.

Mark Speed, General Manager of Siemens Mobility at Goole, said: “We’re excited to welcome all these new recruits to our growing team in Goole.

“Bringing on board so many talented young people demonstrates our commitment to creating new opportunities to join the UK rail industry and help to shape its future.

“These new team members represent a major investment in creating a powerful pipeline of talent and a lasting legacy of skills for our business and the wider industry. The numbers taken on also reflect the scale of our operations in Goole and the range of functions within the Rail Village.

“We’re looking forward to seeing our new colleagues grow and develop in their roles and contribute to the success of our operations in Goole as we transform rail travel and transport.”

It is planned that 80 per cent of new trains for the Piccadilly line on the London Underground will be assembled at Goole..

Siemens Mobility plans to build all future main line trains for the UK at Goole, including new battery bi-mode trains that it has calculated could save Britain’s railways £3.5bn and 12 million tonnes of CO2 over 35 years.

A yet-to-be-opened factory will be the centrepiece of the wider Rail Village, featuring a Components Facility, a Materials and Logistics Warehouse, and a research, development and innovation cluster, establishing Goole as a “centre of excellence for rail technology” in the UK.

The new recruits include Liv Ross, 16, from Rawcliffe Bridge, near Goole, who is undertaking a Level 3 Mechanical Fitter Apprenticeship after completing GCSEs in engineering and computer science.

She said: “Engineering is still very male dominated, but I had a female engineering teacher at school who really inspired me to pursue a career in this field.

“I didn’t like the idea of going to college and sitting in a classroom all day. Getting hands-on experience through an apprenticeship was much more appealing to me.

“It already feels like I’m part of a great community. Everyone has made me feel welcome and we’re all here to help each other.”