Phill Walters has seen plenty of ups and downs in the rail manufacturing industry over the past 30 years, but he’s never seen things as desperate as they are today.
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He fears the failure to secure the contract to build the new fleet of intercity trains could be the beginning of the end for rail manufacturing at Broadmeadow where trains have been manufactured for more than a century.
“We have known that the government hasn’t wanted to build them in Newcastle for the last couple of years. But we were always hoping that something might change and we would get some percentage of it,” he said.
Mr Walters said the Hunter’s reputation as a cost-effective, competitive manufacturer was solid.
“The last contract, the OSCAR cars, were delivered on time and budget. If that’s not good enough what is?”
