Member Article

Manchester’s High Speed Rail college bid shortlisted

Greater Manchester’s Local Enterprise Partnership has welcomed the announcement that Manchester has been shortlisted as one of four sites to be considered as the home of a new National College for High Speed Rail.

The Department for Innovation Business and Skills last week announced that Manchester, Birmingham, Derby and Doncaster are being considered to provide the national college for high-speed rail, skills and enterprise.

The new college hub and a number of ‘spokes’ based across the country will provide training to the next generation of engineers working on the HS2 project and beyond.

Manchester collaborated with Cheshire East on the bid and Crewe will be a vital ‘spokes site’ for education provisions and training should the bid prove successful. Both Manchester and Crewe have a strong heritage in rail transport and are substantial locations in rail networking terms.

Deputy leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Sue Murphy, said: “High Speed Rail will bring enormous economic and employment benefits to Manchester, and the presence here of the National College for High Speed Rail would only accentuate these, serving as a national centre for our next generation of engineers.

“While Manchester’s shortlisting is good news, there remains work to be done and we will continue to press our case.”

Mike Blackburn, the Chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership said: “It’s excellent news that our bid has been shortlisted. I think it’s an acknowledgment of the tremendous depth of expertise that we have in further and higher education, as well as the strength and importance of the rail network across the North West.

“If our bid is ultimately successful, it will represent a unique opportunity to create world-class facilities which will enhance future skills development throughout the region.”

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said: “We received a number of very strong proposals and not all can be taken forward to the final stage. However, it is clear that there is already some excellent partnership activity taking place between education providers and the rail industry across the country, which is resulting in the delivery of some outstanding provision.

“For the college to be a success, it will need to bring together this expertise, so we can achieve high quality skills provision in this important sector. We hope that all those locations that responded to the consultation will develop strong links with the main college site, so that as many learners as possible have access to the opportunities that HS2 and other rail engineering projects will create.”

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer added: “High Speed Rail is a vital part of our long-term economic plan, providing and safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs. The new college will equip the engineers of the future with the skills they need to secure these jobs and similar ones in the UK and across the globe.

“This new national college will operate with a ‘hub and spoke’ model, so there is huge potential for towns and cities across the country to benefit from the opportunities it will bring.”

Representatives from Birmingham, Derby, Doncaster and Manchester will now give a presentation to an Advisory Group on Friday, June 27, in order for a final decision to be made in July.

The National College for High Speed Rail forms part of the government’s work with HS2 Ltd to ensure the new north-south railway delivers a tangible skills legacy that will serve the UK for the next century. It is expected that High Speed Rail will create up to 2,000 apprentices during the lifetime of construction.

The National College for High Speed Rail will be the first specialist national college to be developed and plans are in place to create more, including in nuclear, coding and energy, in the coming years.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .