LONDON (AP) -- Canadian transport equipment builder Bombardier says it will cut more than 1,400 jobs in Britain after it failed to win a contract for building rail carriages.
The company said Tuesday that it would lay off about 446 permanent staff and 983 temporary hires at its plant in Derby in central England.
Bombardier lost out to Germany's Siemens in bidding for a contract to build new passenger trains for the Thameslink line between Brighton on the south coast and Bedford, 50 miles (80 kms) north of London.
The Department for Transport has said that Siemens will be hiring about 650 people in Britain to build the trains.
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, has called on the government to act quickly to save Britain's last train manufacturer.
