  We present the first characterization of a thick disc component in the
Andromeda galaxy (M31) using kinematic data from the DEIMOS multi-object
spectrograph instrument on Keck II. Using 21 fields in the South West of the
galaxy, we measure the lag of this component with respect to the thin disc, as
well as the dispersion, metallicity and scale length of the component. We find
an average lag between the two components of <dv>=46.0+/-3.9km/s. The velocity
dispersion of the thick disc is sigma_{thick}=50.8+/-1.9km/s, greater than the
value of dispersion we determine for the thin disc,
sigma_{thin}=35.7+/-1.0km/s. The thick disc is more metal poor than the thin
disc, with [Fe/H]_{spec}=-1.0+/-0.1 compared to [Fe/H]_{spec}=-0.7+/-0.05 for
the thin disc. We measure a radial scale length of the thin and thick discs of
h_r=7.3+/-1.0 kpc and h_r=8.0+/-1.2 kpc. From this, we infer scale heights for
both discs of 1.1+/-0.2 kpc and 2.8+/-0.6 kpc, both of which are ~2--3 times
larger than those observed in the Milky Way. We estimate a mass range for the
thick disc component of 2.4x10^{10}Msun< M_{*,thick} <4.1x10^{10}Msun. This
value provides a useful constraint on possible formation mechanisms, as any
proposed method for forming a thick disc must be able to heat (or deposit) at
least this amount of material.
