‘I have been really impressed by the passion for rail’
MINISTER TOURS CITY AHEAD OF GBR VOTE
DERBY pulled out all the stops on Wednesday to show Rail Minister Wendy Morton why the city should be the home of Great British Railways (GBR), which will run Britain’s railways from timetables to tracks from next year.
Ms Morton was in Derby for about three hours finding out why the city is best placed to deliver GBR for the nation.
During the visit, she watched a presentation about Derby’s bid, had a short tour of company Resonate, the designer and developer of digital railway and connected transport solutions, and then toured Derby College’s Roundhouse building where she met key business and political leaders from the city. She also spoke to apprentices from rail engineering company Alstom.
Ms Morton took time out to look at Wednesday’s front page of the Derby Telegraph, which was urging people to vote online in support of the headquarters coming to Derby – one of six places still in the running for the accolade.
Ms Morton had already visited four of the others – Crewe, Newcastle, York and Birmingham – ahead of coming to Derby, and has still to visit the final one, Doncaster.
She said: “I have met different people from all walks of life and have come to this wonderful building, the Roundhouse, which highlights the wonderful history and heritage in Derby.
“I have also learned a lot about the future potential for the rail here as well. What has struck me in all of this is the way in which Derby – and the other five cities involved in the bid – have really taken this opportunity to highlight the importance of the rail industry.
“I have been really impressed by everyone’s passion for the railways, their enthusiasm and sense of pride that they have in the rail industry here.
“That is one of the things I will go away with. The process continues. What I can say is that Derby has a one in six chance of being successful.
“It’s going to be a very tough choice. They have all been very strong contenders and actually we had 42 bids originally before it was reduced to six. Railways have been here for 200 years and I want them to be here for a lot longer in the future.”
Campaigning for public support for the GBR bid has been taking place since early July, and people have until midnight on Monday, August 15, to cast their vote for Derby, which has the advantage of having been a railway town and city for almost 200 years, and which endures today as the one place in the country where trains are still designed and made.
The online vote is just one way the Government will measure which place should be the new headquarters – it will also be looking at how GBR in Derby would help the levelling up agenda, how accessible the city is, railway heritage and links to the network, and how much Derby would represent value for money.
Derby meets all the criteria with its proud rail history, centrallyplaced location, being at the heart of the rail industry, and scores of businesses in the supply chain located in the area, and it will give the Government a chance to level up in the East Midlands by bringing civil service jobs to the city and creating new jobs.
Councillor Chris Poulter, Derby City Council leader, said he thought the ministerial visit had gone very well.
He said: “It has been excellent. I think the minister was impressed with the rail cluster, history and the fact that we still design, make and mend trains in Derby.
“I think having the support of more than 40 local authorities and over 21 MPs in the East Midlands was also impressive, and we also pointed out that Derby is the leastinvested-in area in the country when it comes to Government jobs.”
Derby North MP Amanda Solloway also felt the visit had “gone really well”. She said: “I know that the minister will be taking everything on board and will be seeing how much the different cities fit the criteria to become the headquarters. I feel we gave a very good account of ourselves today and it made me feel so proud to hear the presentation and to know we are such a rail city.”
If you still haven’t voted, you only have five days left to do so. To vote you need to go to the GBR Headquarters vote webpage and click “vote now”. Upon clicking “vote now”, you will need to click the box next to the destination you want to vote for and enter your postcode, followed by an email address if you wish to receive a PDF copy of your vote.
An announcement about the winning city will be made later in the year.