UK rail minister Stephen Hammond, has said that the Thameslink programme cannot guarantee rail industry recovery, and that the Department of Transport cannot be bias in favour of UK manufactures.

The minister detailed that competition rulings from the EU prevented the UK government from choosing a UK supplier

The bidding process had drawn condemnation from multiple parties back in 2011, when Derby based manufacturer Bombardier moved to cut 1,200 jobs after failing to outbid Siemens for the Thameslink project.

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Stephen Hammond said: “"There is a process we are legally bound to follow and we will follow that process. I'm not saying there won't be [a UK supplier] but we are honour bound by the process. Everybody in the UK would like a UK supplier to win that contract. It would be a huge fillip for UK industry.”

Despite the failure of a UK company to win the bid, Siemens are expected to create 2,000 jobs in Britain to maintain and construct the trains, which will start operating in 2016.

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