Ditch the diesel: green bi-mode trains would be made here in east Yorkshire

At the time, then CEO Sambit Banerjee said: “Britain should never have to buy a diesel passenger train again.

“Our battery trains, which we’d assemble in our new Goole factory in Yorkshire, can replace Britain’s aging diesel trains without us having to electrify hundreds of miles more track in the next few years.”

While Hitachi Rail has made bi-mode trains in County Durham for TransPennine Express and Hull Trains that both serve East Yorkshire, so far, the contracts have not come in for Siemens to deliver trains on its home tracks in the region - despite the environmental and financial benefits.

Battery bi-mode trains are a way of replacing ageing diesel motors on routes where there are no plans for full electrification.

They are currently operated by Hull Trains with the Paragon fleet and on TPE services with Nova-1.

The Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement appears to indicate that electrification is not on the cards in the short or medium term between Hull and Sheffield and Selby.

Noisy, polluting diesel trains are still used on several routes due to the lack of electrification.

Overhead line equipment could be installed at Hull station, which would recharge the battery for the non-electrified section of the track.

Siemens Mobility says this is a cheaper and quicker way of replacing diesel trains, estimating it could save the taxpayer £3.5bn over 35 years.

Aglaja Schneider, joint CEO of Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland, said: “Battery bi-mode trains will significantly cut the costs of running the railways compared to ‘multi-mode’ part-diesel alternatives, saving money for taxpayers and fare payers.

“With trains like this already running in Europe, Britain shouldn’t get left behind and we can deliver the trains from our Goole Rail Village and electrification systems from our York office at a lower overall cost than trains with diesel engines.”

As well as the cost, the firm believes it will save around 90 per cent of CO2 emissions when compared to diesel trains over a 35-year period. The trains are also much quieter for passengers.

The bi-mode trains are currently operating successfully in Denmark and Germany, where they run as commuter trains out of Berlin.

But local politicians like Coun Anne Handley, the Tory leader of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, want to see the trains in Goole serve the people of Yorkshire.

She said: “It’s insane that we can build the trains for the Piccadilly line in London and I’m delighted that we can do that, however it’s criminal that I can’t get on a train in Goole, where the trains are made, and go 26 miles up the road to Leeds.

“We are the gateway to Europe and yet trying to get trains out of the East Riding and Hull is too difficult.

“The poor transport stifles a lot of people coming to work in the region, we should be opening that up.”

Coun Handley compared Hull and the East Riding to Liverpool - the western end of the M62 - which has an integrated metro system alongside the trains.

“We are the mirror image and we need to be looked at a lot better than what we have,” she added.

“I feel left behind again by Northern Powerhouse Rail, but I would rather come with a solution than a problem, and the solution is the bi-mode trains.

“If we can get them built in Goole - which would cost the Government far less than electrification - that would be a great step forward for our region.”