Get over Bombardier contract miss, say Germans

Siemens has broken its silence over the £1.4bn Thameslink trains contract, which the German giant won last year to much criticism that British jobs would be put at risk. Juergen Maier, head of Siemens' UK arm, said that media coverage had been "biased" and that 2,000 British jobs would be created. Bombardier announced a review of its UK operations in the wake of the contract defeat last summer. But Siemens – which has been in the UK since 1843 and employs 13,000 here – believes the criticism it has received is unfair. Mr Maier said: "There isn't any consideration of the amount of employment [Siemens has] created. We livein a competitive world – there will be a winnerand a loser."