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Britain's last remaining train factory faces an uncertain future as Canadian parent Bombardier Inc. scrambles to find long-term work to compensate for the loss of a major contract to German rival Siemens AG.

News that Siemens beat out Bombardier Transportation, by winning preferred bidder status to build 1,200 carriages for the North-South cross-London commuter route, provoked a flurry of concern in Britain over what will happen to Bombardier's venerable rail works in Derby, where the cars would have been assembled.

Trade union giant Unite said Thursday the decision by the British government to award the contract to the Siemens-led consortium is a "disgraceful decision which is a hammer blow for the Derby area."

The development highlights the delicate balancing act amidst political, economic and social forces that global train manufacturers such as Bombardier face as they run the gauntlet of bidding contests in dozens of disparate countries.

The value of the winning bid for the British project – known as Thameslink – wasn't disclosed but it is believed to be worth up to $5-billion.

British Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said in a news release that the Siemens proposal represented the best value for taxpayers' money.

The contract to build the carriages for the Thameslink upgrade is the second major bid Bombardier has lost to rivals in Britain. Two years ago, a consortium led by Japan's Hitachi beat out Bombardier on a contract for the Inter City Express.

The Thameslink electric trains would have been built at Bombardier Transportation's Derby facilities, which include the historic Litchurch Lane works, a legendary part of Britain's industrial heritage reaching back to the late 19th century.

"Clearly, we need to try and mitigate this situation and we will be doing that over the next few weeks," said U.K. Bombardier Transportation spokesman Neil Harvey.

Bombardier employs about 3,000 at Derby and had been counting on the Thameslink contract to help fill a gap in its production at the facility as several jobs wind down by September. Of five production lines now working, only one will remain after September, said Mr. Harvey.

Bombardier hopes to submit a bid for an upcoming tender for a 600-car contract in Britain, he added. The company has pre-qualified for the bidding, as have Siemens, French giant Alstom SA, Hitachi and Spanish firm CAF, he said.

Bombardier's Transportation or rail division brought in $9.1 billion (U.S.) of revenue for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, about half of the aerospace and rail company's overall revenue of $17.7 billion.

Bombardier Transportation's huge $33.5 billion backlog of orders helps to offset the blow of losing Thameslink, said Canaccord Genuity Corp. analyst David Tyerman.

"Bombardier Transportation should still be positioned for solid growth and [losing] this contract won't knock them off that path," he said.

Nigel Harris, managing editor of Rail magazine, said Derby's uncertain fate reflects the vicissitudes of what has become a truly international, borderless market.

"It's a big business globally. Bombardier could, for example, move some of its production from other facilities elsewhere in Europe to Derby," he said.

Desjardins Securities said in a research note Thursday it expects Bombardier will "review its operations at its Derby facility ... in the near future in light of the loss of the Thameslink and Inter City Express contracts and as most of its contracts under production are nearing completion."

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