UK: The first rail vehicles have arrived at the St Rollox works site at Springburn in Glasgow since it was taken over by Gibson’s Engineering.
‘This is a really exciting moment for Glasgow and Scotland, given what we are planning to do and the number of people that we are going to employ’, said Managing Director Fraser Gibson on August 15. ‘The size of the site gives us an opportunity to do more training, take on more apprentices, and make this place a centre of engineering once again.’
What began as the Caledonian Railway works passed through various owners before being closed by Gemini Rail in 2019.
Businessman and non-executive Chairman of Gibson’s Rail David Moulsdale then spent £10m to buy the facility in 2021 and refurbish the buildings. ‘There are huge opportunities in the market, and we are perfectly placed to take advantage and restore “The Caley” to what it once was’, he said when the first rolling stock arrived.
Gibson’s Engineering said it plans to use the site as a ‘one-stop shop’ to ‘build new trains, maintain existing fleets and carry out repairs’, and expand the workforce to more than 1 000 employees in the next five years and 5 000 in 10 years.
Gibson said ’we are going to put it back on the map — not just for the UK rail industry, Europe’s.’
