City enters bid for railways HQ

Ambitious plans to make Peterborough the home of the new Great British Railways have been submitted to national transport chiefs.

At the heart of the proposals is a £43 million stateof-the-art gateway station development on the site of the city’s current train station and that would make the Great British Railway HQ its anchor tenant.

The vision is Peterborough’s entry in the national contest announced late last year by the Department for Transport to find the ideal location for the headquarters of the newly created Great British Railways.

The Peterborough bid will be submitted today, hitting the first deadline in a four phase competition that will ultimately be settled by a public vote in the summer.

The bid has been overseen by economic development company Opportunity Peterborough and envisages the Great British Railways HQ set in a new gateway station adjoining a range of high quality offices and retail outlets.

Outlining why Peterborough would be a first class destination for the new HQ, the bid points out that Peterborough is an extremely busy rail interchange that annually serves five million passengers with the city providing a central location with direct north-south east-west routes that give easy access to a significant portion of the country from London to Aberdeen.

A base in Peterborough would put the new rail operator close to industry bodies like GB Rail Freight, The Road Haulage Association, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, and The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight.

The arrival of the Great British Railways HQ would also deliver many benefits for the city.

The bid flags up the fact that the new operator would directly support the city’s levelling up agenda, improve the quality of life of all residents and communities and ensure that all communities benefit from new growth and the opportunities.

For the successful city, the new headquarters will mean the creation of thousands of high skilled jobs and millions of pounds of investment.

Peterborough’s bid is expected to be up against rival bids from cities and towns such as York, Manchester, Crewe, Doncaster and Grantham - all looking to reap rewards from the latest shakeup of the nation’s rail operations.

Great British Railways has been set up by the Department for Transport to transform the way the rail sector works and will bring track and train operators together.

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow has previously said: “We all need to get behind this exciting bid for Peterborough.

“Rail has been part of the city’s history since the 1840s and 1850s. Let’s bring the national rail headquarters to Peterborough.

“We have plenty of space here and it could create up to 5,000 jobs.”

The timetable for the competition is:

Stage 1: March 16, 2022: Deadline for expressions of interest.

Stage 2: May 2022: Shortlist announced.

Stage 3: May 2022: Public vote.

Stage 4: Summer 2022: Winner

Peterborough railway station