Member Article

Doncaster is to become the home of the new National High Speed Rail College

The Government has announced that the long-awaited verdict on the new High Speed Rail College has been decided, with Doncaster and Birmingham coming out on top.

The college will train thousands of new engineers, who are needed to deliver billions of pounds worth of rail contracts over the coming decades, including the new HS2 high speed rail line.

The successful Centre for Rail Engineering and Technical Expertise (CREATE) bid, coordinated by Doncaster Council, involved a range of private sector businesses and was supported by the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

Doncaster’s fast paced rail and engineering renaissance has stepped up a gear this year with over 10,000 people employed in the sector and firms having order books in excess of £1.7billion over the next five years.

There is also strong interest from companies looking to locate to one of Britain’s most important railway centres according to the lobby group behind the successful bid.

Hundreds of people, businesses and public sector partners including Local Enterprise Partnerships, local authorities, universities and colleges and chambers of commerce from up and down the country backed the bid.

Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster, said: “I am delighted that our hard work to bring the new National High Speed Rail College to Doncaster has been a success and I would like to thank everyone who has been part of our bid, or supported it.

“The College will enable our rail and engineering companies to build on their success, upskill our existing workforce and help attract new companies to the area who will benefit from being located amongst their supply chain

“Doncaster is well on the way to regaining its reputation as an important centre of industry. I want to see a new generation of engineering and manufacturing in Doncaster, and this major success is a significant piece of the jigsaw in achieving our plan.”

James Newman, chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The new HS2 College is good news for jobs, skills and economic growth in Doncaster and the Sheffield City Region.”

Simon Carr, managing director of Henry Boot Construction and Incoming-Chair of the National Federation of Builders, said: ““The Sheffield City Region HS2 College will make Doncaster a worldwide hub for future rail engineering training.

“As one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe, the scale of demand for engineering and construction skills from HS2 will be unprecedented.”

Phil Harris, chief executive officer, Doncaster Chamber, said: “As part of the lobbying activity surrounding Doncaster’s bid for the Rail College Doncaster Chamber secured the support and backing of all the Chambers of Commerce in Yorkshire and the Humber, The North East and also Cambridgeshire – a network that represents around 15,000 businesses. On behalf of all those Chambers and businesses I can say that we are delighted by this announcement. “

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .