Derby Litchurch Lane Works, formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It is presently owned by the multinational transportation manufacturer Alstom.
Derby works originally commenced production of rolling stock on behalf of its owner, the Midland Railway, during the mid 1840s as the direction of Matthew Kirtley, the company's first Locomotive and Carriage Superintendent. Due to its expansion, it was split into the Midland Railway Locomotive Works and the newer Carriage and Wagon Works' during 1873. In the 1910s, amid the First World War, production techniques at the works were drastically overhauled, greatly reducing the manhours involved in producing carriages amongst other things; the works was also involved in the manufacture of various goods for the British military. During 1923, the Midland Railway, and thus the Derby works, became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
During the Second World War, the Derby works were involved in manufacturing aircraft sections. Following the creation of British Railways in 1948 and the associated nationalisation of, amongst many other railway-related locations, the Derby works, it became the principal rolling stock works of the London Midland Region of British Railways. On 1 January 1970, the works were transferred to the newly created subsidiary British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) and renamed Derby Litchurch Lane Works. BREL, and thus the works, was privatised in 1989 and became wholly owned by Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) three years later. During the 1990s, production of the Turbostar DMUs and Electrostar EMUs commenced. During 2001, the works became part of Bombardier Transportation.
After the closure of Alstom's Washwood Heath plant in 2005, Derby works became the only passenger rolling stock manufacturer in the UK.[1][2] During mid-2011, Bombardier announced it was to cut 1,400 out of the 3,000 jobs at Derby. In November 2019, following the awarding of several big contracts, Bombardier announced the creation of 400 new jobs at the works. In January 2021, Alstom acquired Bombardier Transportation, and thus Derby works. During early 2024, Alstom publicly called on the British government to place orders for a minimum of ten trains in order to prevent 1,300 job losses and a permanent loss of capability at the Derby site. In June, the orders were confirmed.