Piccadilly Line trains being built in Goole shows investment in one region creates opportunities in another - Louise Haigh

I grew up in Sheffield as the shadow of our great steel industry was beginning to diminish; on stories of Yorkshire’s great industries – shipbuilding in Hull, textiles in Leeds and, of course, the coal mines, which my family worked down. All made here and sold to the world – a source of jobs and community, but also a source of pride.

Decades of deindustrialisation dimmed that manufacturing spirit. But it hasn’t gone away – it is still there. And under this new Labour government, we will reignite that zeal and repair and rebuild Britain after years of neglect.

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We promised to narrow regional divides and get the whole of Britain moving, working and building.

That’s our mission in government. And it’s exactly what we’re doing.

The opening of the Goole Rail Village. PIC: James HardistyThe opening of the Goole Rail Village. PIC: James Hardisty
The opening of the Goole Rail Village. PIC: James Hardisty

This week, I formally opened the new Siemens Rail Village in Goole. It’s a £200m vote of confidence by Siemens – which has chosen this corner of East Yorkshire as the workshop for London’s new state of the art Piccadilly Line trains.

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Thanks to the Transport for London and Siemens contract, hundreds of new jobs will be created on site, and thousands supported across the rail supply chain.

It proves that delivering better transport is never zero sum; that investment in one region creates opportunities in another; that transport can be a force for economic growth and social change for the whole country.

But for years Britain has been left floundering with no industrial strategy to speak of. No clear long-term plan to boost manufacturing, unlock investment, and create new skilled jobs. In short, no economic vision.

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For our railways, that’s meant a lack of certainty for its supply chain.

This Government will end the cycle of boom and bust which has held back our rail manufacturing sector.

That’s why I am reviewing funding and investment across our railways. It will allow us to develop a long-term strategy for rail projects, including new trains, giving the supply chain the certainty they need to invest.

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This is alongside fundamental changes we’re making to our railways – the biggest in a generation. I have already passed legislation to bring services into public ownership – ending 30 years of failing to deliver for passengers.

And we’ll set up Great British Railways: one body, in charge of the whole network, making long term decisions that grow the railways and deliver for passengers.

If all this sounds different, it is. This Labour Government is turning the page on the chaos of the last few years. And we’re clear-eyed on our number one mission: driving economic growth that improves people’s lives.

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We can’t do it alone. New jobs and new opportunities depend on a new partnership with business. That’s why, in just under two weeks, I will join the Prime Minister and others at an international summit to win the long-term investment our country needs.

Labour is creating the conditions for confident investment and trusted partnership. Only by stabilising the economy are investors looking again at Britain. Only by demonstrating serious grown-up government are businesses wanting to partner with us.

We’ll showcase our new Industrial Strategy, our National Wealth Fund and our planning reforms – all backed by an iron-clad commitment to restore trust in our politics and stability to our finances.

Louise Haigh is the Transport Secretary and Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley.

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