HRH The Prince of Wales visits Bombardier Derby

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Bombardier’s site in Derby today welcomed His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, as part of a tour of the region to show his support for British manufacturing.

Bombardier’s Derby site is the UK’s only rolling stock manufacturing facility.

The Prince spent more than an hour at the site, where he met key members of staff, including engineers and project and manufacturing team members, as well as local officials.

He was hosted by Sir Neville Simms, Non-Executive Chairman of Bombardier Transportation UK, and given a tour of the site by Dr Francis Paonessa, President of UK Rolling Stock, to view the full scope of the manufacturing process, including the design, construction and test areas.

In addition to meeting engineers, The Prince was introduced to young apprentices who are part of the Bombardier Apprentice Scheme.

Sir Neville Simms said:

“Our Derby plant is a key part of Bombardier’s UK operations. Here we produce world class, innovative and highly reliable transport technologies.

“We greatly appreciate The Prince of Wales visiting our site today to allow us to showcase this facility, our people and our strong pedigree in UK manufacturing.”

2 COMMENTS

  1. Unfortunately, the PoW’s visit is not going to save the plant from possible closure – it was a mere publicity stunt! If no definite large orders from UK TOCs are forthcoming within the next 12 months, it is likely that Bombardier Transportation’s bosses in Berlin will sadly pull the plug. Any orders that might materialise in the long term would then have to be sourced from their European factories. 

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