Railway industry welcome International Trade Minister’s commitment to overseas rail exports
Rail businesses should be visible alongside other transport modes such as automotive and aerospace as the Government seeks to negotiate future trade deals around the world, says Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association.
In a speech to the Railway Industry Association’s Parliamentary Reception, published today, the Department for International Trade’s Investment Minister Graham Stuart MP said, “I am acutely aware that our railways play a critical role in our country’s economic success: driving growth, creating jobs, building opportunities and supporting our exports”; and “the railways industry is central to Britain’s future: of export-led growth, technological innovation and clean growth.”
Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association, responded: “It is great to hear the Minister support the railway industry’s repeated assertion that rail is crucial to the economic success of UK plc at home and abroad. Rail businesses should be visible alongside other transport modes such as automotive and aerospace as the Government seeks to negotiate future trade deals around the world.
“Not only is rail a vital mode of transport in the UK, but it is also an important industry in its own right – exporting £800 million in goods and services a year, as well as supporting 600,000 jobs and £36.4bn GVA. The Railway Industry Association and our members stand ready to work with Minister Graham Stuart and the Department for International Trade, as it re-doubles its exports activity in the months and years ahead, and to take advantage of the opportunities new trade deals could bring. This could be a new era for rail exports if we get this right.”
