Siemens Mobility CEO: Rolling Stock Strategy needs to come quickly

The recently announced 10-year infrastructure strategy should have rolling stock at its heart according to leaders from both Siemens Mobility and Alstom.

Both Alstom UK and Ireland’s Commercial Director Peter Broadley and Sambit Banerjee, Siemens Mobility’s Joint Chief Executive Officer were speaking at the Transport Select Committee’s hearing into rolling stock investment.

Banerjee said that he was looking for a five-year fully funded pipeline which would give certainty to manufacturers.

“It is extraordinarily important that we know this pipeline as quickly as possible, so we can manage our resources in time.”, he added.

Banerjee also said it was hugely important that there was at least some “synergy” between both the rolling stock strategy and infrastructure strategy, which is due to be announced by the Department for Transport next week.

Broadley agreed with this assessment and added that he would like to see growth in the sector as quickly as possible after stagnation post-pandemic.

“You’d like to see that demand, which was there before, come back because it has been hell of lot less – but we know from speaking to operators that the demand is going to be there.”

There was frustration however from both Broadley and Banerjee regarding the complexity of procurement and the changing requirements of different traction modes. When asked by Laurence Turner MP (Lab Birmingham Northfield) on whether there was a clear direction, Banerjee said: “In 2016, we listened to government and stopped making diesel trains. Then, as the two biggest train manufacturers in the country, we get an invitation to tender which comes out with tri-mode diesel and it just leaves us confused.”

Broadley contended that the process for procurement had become “onerous” with “terms and conditions that go against what a company is trying to achieve.”

In the second half of the hearing, answering a question from Steff Aquarone (Lib Dem North Norfolk) on what they’d expect from the rolling stock strategy, Malcolm Brown, Chief Executive of rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains said: “The search for perfection is getting in the way of the good.

He added, “You can quite quickly set up a forecast. We know how many trains we’ve got; we know what age they are and how long they last- so it will give a clear line of sight for the next couple of years.

“For investors like ourselves, that allows us to set money aside and allow us to compete.”