Leeds Lawyers Advise Alstom On Multi-million Pound Rail Investment Deal

The Leeds office of national law firm Weightmans was instrumental in multinational rail transport firm Alstom securing what is thought to be the biggest UK train upgrade programme ever.

Infrastructure specialists Stephen Johns and Gemma Fairbrother, based at the firm’s Westgate Point office in Leeds city centre, advised Alstom on the contracts central to the £642m transaction with Avanti West Coast.

The seven-year deal covers the upgrade and refurbishment of the 56 Pendolino electric trains on the West Coast mainline as well as maintenance of the vehicles until 2026 alongside a new train fleet recently ordered from Hitachi.

The deal will create 100 high-skilled roles, mostly based at Alstom’s Transport and Technology Centre in Widnes, with hundreds more existing engineering jobs secured at its depots across the country.

Steve Johns, rail specialist and partner at Weightmans, said: “Having advised Alstom previously on rail maintenance contracts, it was great to work with the team again on such a complex and important deal for the region.

“As a firm headquartered in the Liverpool with offices in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester, we’ve got a real stake in creating a bright future for the north. That’s why we’re ideally placed to bring our infrastructure expertise to projects in key locations such as Merseyside and beyond.”

Mark Durham at Alstom said: “The team at Weightmans were an invaluable source of advice and support, and helped us deliver this project against a challenging deadline. We’ve worked with Steve in the past and are always impressed by his insight and guidance, and the experience he brings from other significant rail and infrastructure projects he’s worked on.”

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/