PRESS ASSOCIATION -- The decision on who will supply new trains for Crossrail will be delayed, it has been reported.
Bosses of the £16bn rail scheme, which is to run through London from west to east, will now choose which company will build the carriages under new competition guidelines.
The move comes after Derby-based train manufacturer Bombardier lost out on a £1.4bn contract to supply rolling stock for the Thameslink route between Bedford and Brighton to German company Siemens.
Canadian company Bombardier, the last remaining train-maker in Britain, is poised to axe 1,400 jobs after losing out on the contract.
In delaying the Crossrail decision, UK companies are less likely to lose out to European competitors, the BBC reported.
Four companies are on the shortlist for the Crossrail project: Bombardier, Siemens, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA (CAF) and Hitachi Rail Europe Limited.
The announcement of the delay was met with anger by critics who questioned why the review could not be applied to the Thameslink contract, which was finalised in June.
Maria Eagle, Labour's shadow transport secretary, said: "If ministers are now saying it's possible to review the Crossrail contract, they must explain why they have cost British jobs by refusing to do the same for the new Thameslink trains as Labour has repeatedly demanded."
Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary, said: "This is an admission by the Government that they got the Thameslink contract wrong and as well as learning lessons for the future they should now do the decent thing and award that work to Bombardier in Derby before it is too late.
"There is now no excuse for the destruction of train building in the UK and if the Government fail to reverse the Thameslink stitch-up before it is too late they will stand accused of playing politics with people's livelihoods."