Steaming ahead with bid for rail HQ

Peterborough’s MP writes his regular column for the Peterborough Telegraph

Peterborough is a railway city. We have been for the best part of 170 years, strategically placed between London and the north. We are the headquarters for GB RailFreight, whose new, three-storey, £3.6 million facilities opened last year. They are training the next generation of railway freight drivers and workers, right here.

The East Coast mainline means we are less than 50 minutes from the capital. We have exciting plans for a revamped Peterborough Station and redeveloped station quarter.

So when I heard the Government needs a location for the national HQ for Great British Railways, you can guess my immediate thought: let’s bring it here!

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, launched the process this week with everyone’s favourite trainspotter – and wearer of flamboyantly garish jackets – Michael Portillo. They put together an amusing spoof video to invite bids.

This great railway journey can only end in one place, but instead of York, Doncaster or Crewe, there is a genuine chance that GB Rail could come to Peterborough.

After initial bids by midMarch, a shortlist will be announced in May, followed by a public vote.

We can do this! Peterborough City Council is on board. So are Opportunity Peterborough and everyone’s newspaper of choice and distinction, the Peterborough Telegraph itself.

I made my own tonguein-cheek video in reply to the transport secretary, which I know he’s seen. I can use my mobile from a station bench with the best of them.

As I told Grant in the film, rail has been part of our city’s history since the 1840s and 1850s. We have a bustling nightlife, great retail, and a new university coming. Peterborough is where it’s at.

But beyond donning a Portillo jacket and drawing attention to ourselves, there is a serious case to put together. The national rail headquarters would bring thousands of jobs to the city – and you can help.

To register your support for Peterborough and our bid – or to offer specific forms of support – please go to this link: www.paulbristow.org. uk/gbrail

If we all get behind this bid, I honestly think we have a chance to beat the competition. Our city is special. Part of what makes it special are the great companies and manufacturers who are already based here, with few having more distinguished histories than Peter Brotherhood. They have just taken on six apprenticeships, with six to follow in September.

Baker Perkins have 22 apprentices under training, having taken on eight last year. That’s a big number in a company with a workforce of 320 people. Like Peter Brotherhood, they are also planning to take on more apprentices in 2022.

These are fantastic opportunities for our young people. A pathway to skilled, well-paid jobs starting right on their doorstep.

That’s what local investment and growth can deliver – opportunity. A chance for our children to get on. A chance for our adults to retrain and be better off, with better prospects.

Success breeds success, they say.

If that continues to apply, it’s the best possible news for Peterborough, because our successes are multiplying fast.

I want to finish on a different topic, because this week, as her Platinum Jubilee got underway, we were reminded once again of the incredible service of Her Majesty The Queen over the last 70 years.

Long may she reign!

Picture: Pixabay