A £4.5 billion deal to replace the train fleet that operates between London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness has been announced following years of delay.
Agility Trains, a consortium led by Hitachi of Japan, will build 596 rail carriages at a new factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, creating 900 jobs.
Agility was announced as preferred bidder for the Intercity Express Programme in early 2009, but after a series of delays it has taken more than three years for the deal to be finalised.
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