Train-maker stars in BBC’s Inside the Factory show

Derby train-maker Alstom has taken a starring role in the latest series of the popular BBC television show Inside the Factory.

In last night’s episode, presenter Gregg Wallace visited the firm’s Litchurch Lane factory to find out how the company designs, manufactures and tests its Aventra trains at its 84-acre site.

In the programme, Gregg confesses that he loved playing with toy trainsets as a child.

In the show, which aired on BBC2, he is given special access to learn how the ultimate model is made: a huge 187-tonne, five-carriage electric Aventra train.

Gregg follows every step of the process, from the delivery of vast lengths of aluminium and a 15,000-degree welding operation to the carriages’ assembly with a set of enormous cranes.

He also learns about different parts of the train and the importance of electrification – all before getting to drive the newly finished train himself.

It is not the first time that a Marketing Derby Bondholder has been featured on Inside the Factory.

Earlier this year, Denby Pottery provided the focus for the show, with Gregg going inside the firm’s factory at Denby to discover its production processes and meet some of the team who make its products.

That episode followed the production of a mug, Denby’s best-selling Halo Mug, from raw clay to the finished product.

The Alstom episode, entitled ‘Trains’, is now available to view on BBC iPlayer – where the episode featuring Denby, entitled ‘Mugs’, is also still available to watch.