Question reference: S6W-00260
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 26 May 2021
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Current status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to assembling half of all new trains procured for the domestic railway network within Scotland, equivalent to the commitment made by the Welsh Government.
Answer
Firstly, as means of clarification the Welsh Government did not commit to 50 percent of its fleet being assembled in Wales prior to its procurement. Both the Welsh and Scottish Governments must comply with relevant procurement law.
The procurement strategy for new rolling stock, to be produced by the wholly owned Scottish Government company named ScotRail Trains Limited, will be subject to approval by Transport Scotland. Through that process, the Scottish Government will seek to maximise opportunities for the involvement of the local supply chain.
Transport Scotland has already undertaken informal market testing with manufacturers to ensure the importance of local input is clear and any procurement will restate this. The current Class 314 conversion project at Bo’ness is focussed on developing a local supply chain which will support the need for diesel train replacement by zero emissions fleets.