CAF UK expansion

CAF – UK expansion

Two new facilities – one in Stockport and the other in Newport – have been constructed for CAF to support the company’s growing operations.

In Stockport, a central stores and rolling stock component overhaul facility are housed in a 4,382 square metre unit at the newly completed Aurora industrial and warehouse scheme next to Junction 1 of the M60.

The central stores holds spares to service CAF’s existing and future UK contracts and is already operational, with more than half of the 10-strong team now appointed.

The stores will primarily supply four of the Spanish-based firm’s UK maintenance depots – two in Manchester, one in Liverpool and a fourth in Glasgow.

Half of the unit will accommodate the second function, a rolling stock component overhaul facility. This is currently scheduled to come online in 2021 and will create 22 new jobs.

David Lowe, General Manager CAF Rail UK, commented: “This is a brand-new extension of CAF’s UK business and demonstrates the company’s commitment to servicing our existing and new contracts and allows for continued business opportunities and growth.

“The central stores will service new contracts that go into service this year and going forward.

“Our intention is to develop the overhaul facility earlier than 2021 should CAF secure new contracts in the interim and there is an opportunity to utilise the service sooner.”

The unit – the largest of 10 at the Aurora industrial and warehouse scheme – is leased from developer Stockport Council. It was selected for its central location in relation to CAF’s three biggest depots in Manchester and Liverpool and the ability to tailor the high-quality build design to fit the company’s specific requirements.

The Stockport facility is the latest development by CAF and comes as the company’s Newport train building factory – creating 300 jobs – is under construction.

The Newport factory will be over 46,000 square metres in size and will employ 200 people when it opens in autumn 2018, rising to 300 by 2019. It is being designed so that CAF can build a range of different trains, including diesel multiple units (DMUs), electric multiple units (EMUs), trams and high speed trains.

Richard Garner, CAF’s UK Director said: “The factory will have the flexibility to allow us to respond to the exacting demands of both existing and new customers by providing the most complete offering of any rolling stock provider operating in the UK.

“CAF is an established supplier to the UK market, and we now have a solid economic basis for further increasing our footprint in the UK. The establishment of this facility will serve CAF’s long-term aspirations to be a major player in the UK market for many years to come.”

CAF is investing £30 million to get the factory up and running, and has also received significant grant support from the Welsh Government’s Inward Investment Programme.

The new factory is an integral part of CAF’s strategy to win more contracts to supply rolling stock to UK operators. The company is targeting projects for the West Coast, East Coast, East Midlands and Cross Country franchises.

CAF currently has contracts to build some 300 trains and coaches for the UK market. These include 31 three-car and 12 four-car EMUs, and 25 two-car and 30 three-car DMUs for the next Northern franchise; 12 five-car EMUs and 66 coaches for TransPennine Express; and 75 coaches for the Caledonian Sleeper service.

GH – A global reference in material lifting solutions for the railway sector

GH is a multinational family-owned company, specialising in products for lifting and moving cargo. With over 60 years in the business, GH works with the most diverse sectors within the global economy with special attention for those that need specific products requiring high performance due to the demand for precision, quality and productivity.

The star product in GH’s range is its overhead crane and all of the variants on this, both cranes deemed to be standard and those designated as special due to their features and the sector for which they are intended.

GH’s involvement with CAF and its developments, both internal and external, date back to the beginning of both companies’ operations since the origins of both GH and CAF came about in the innovative, entrepreneurial and industrial Goierri Valley in Beasain.

Among the outstanding products for the railway sector, there is the transfer table, for which GH has developed its own product that meets the requirements of a company such as CAF, which is a leading firm across the world in the railway sector.

GH has been fully involved with the project from the offset with seamless interactions between the technical staff at GH and CAF for this project in Newport.

The business is a reference point in the railway sector and this project is tangible proof of that.

MAIN DETAILS OF THE PROJECT