BOMBARDIER is reported to be asking for ‘contractual charges’ to be suspended because the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted production for a while at Litchurch Lane in Derby, where 2,000 people are employed. The charges, which are normally levied for late delivery of new trains, amount to some £20 million a month. Bombardier is said to have warned that production will have to be halted again unless the government steps in. The Litchurch Lane factory is currently building new electric units for Greater Anglia to be used on the commuter network east of London which terminates at Liverpool Street. It has also emerged that the Canadian firm has been holding talks about the crisis with the Department for Transport for several weeks. Production at Derby and maintenance work at other sites had been suspended on 25 March as the pandemic lockdown took hold, but was restarted on 13 April after working practices had been reviewed to comply with social distancing requirements.