A vote for Derby as rail HQ can bring back what was lost
IN just one week, on Monday August 15, the public vote to advise Government of the favoured city for the Great British Railways headquarters will close. Six cities have been shortlisted for the centre of what will be a re-nationalisation of the rail industry without it being called that by the Government.
I have had the privilege of working for the rail industry since 1961 after finishing school when I first started my time as a railway civil engineer in the Eastern Region training centre at Kings Cross.
That was the start of a fantastic career that saw me spend time after my studentship at an area engineer’s office and then involved in training future engineers at the Civil Engineers National Training Centre, now the Grove Hotel and Golf Course.
Thereafter, I moved to what was then the British Railways Board at Marylebone and Paddington before coming to Derby as a regional engineer for the Midland region. That was in 1988, seven exciting years before the rail industry was privatised in spring 1995.
That I considered was a mistake and I recall discussing it with a former Conservative MP, who privately shared with me that he believed even John Major thought it was a privatisation too far. Given it is another Conservative Government that is driving a new Great British Railways industry, then maybe the
original railways should never have been privatised.
I retired at privatisation and worked for myself as a consultant in the industry. That work now funds a decent lifestyle for me and also for many others who have followed the same route… but it would have been more beneficial for the taxpayer and rail passengers had it never been privatised.
Next year is when a decision is expected from the Government on its preferred location for the headquarters of Great British Railways, so why do I now urge you to cast a vote in favour of Derby?
After retirement I chose to remain in Derby. The logic was it is the centre of the UK and made it easier for me to travel around for my work.
Derby is, in fact, more central than any of the other five shortlisted cities – York, Crewe, Birmingham Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – and what I gained staying in Derby is still valid today. All the key rail infrastructure is still here and could be easily returned to fresh use as the headquarters of the new rail industry. We still have the Litchurch Lane rail works, thanks to the local fight to keep it here in 2011 when an excellent demonstration by Derby people persuaded the Government to award a key contract to Bombardier.
I do wonder how many Derby people drive past the Railway Technical Centre in London Road yet forget that the BR Research and Development Division was located there? If that division still exists, I don’t know where it is. It should again be centralised and returned to Derby in the same buildings.
Also in London Road is the old orphanage that before privatisation was the training centre for signal and telegraph engineers and also mechanical engineers. In 1995 the civil engineering training was transferred there so it is the perfect location to re-establish all engineering training.
Perhaps what I have missed the most these past 30 years has been the rail timetable that covered every part of the network for both passenger and freight traffic. This major tome meant all traffic was co-ordinated and connections at change points did actually connect.
Maybe I hope I am not asking too much when I suggest you support me and vote for Derby as the new centre for the railway – that is what I miss the most and my biggest delight if I get it back.
There is just one week left to vote for Derby as the preferred location for the Great British Railways headquarters. The online vote is www.derbygbr.co.uk.