On Friday I visited the Hitachi Rail Factory at Newton Aycliffe, together with Julie Elliott and other Labour colleagues.

We received a tour of the factory and were able to meet with staff to learn more about their work and train building at Hitachi.

The factory employs around 1000 people and supports many more jobs in the supply chain across the north east. The Hitachi-built Azuma trains are currently being rolled out across the East Coast mainline.