Vote for Derby to become the new home of Great British Railways

Derby is one of six cities to be shortlisted to become the new HQ of Great British Railways

Tue 5 Jul 2022

Derby has taken a step closer in its bid to becoming the new home of Great British Railways (GBR).

The city is one of 6 to be shortlisted from 42 expressions of interest from towns and cities across the nation keen to be the HQ location for the new organisation created to deliver a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain. The other shortlisted cities are Birmingham, Crewe, Doncaster, Newcastle and York.

Great British Railways will be the new public body responsible for running Britain’s railways. It aims to deliver the most ambitious changes to our railways in a generation, working with the Government, across the rail sector and beyond.

In October last year, the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps announced a competition to find a location for the GBR headquarters outside of London.

Historical ties with railways and good train connectivity to other places were among the criteria used to decide the shortlist. As the centre of Europe’s largest rail cluster, Derby is a front runner in the competition.

There will now be ministerial visits to all the locations on the shortlist followed by a non-binding but influential public vote to measure the level of public support for each location. The public vote closes on 15 August, 2022. The result will be considered as part of final decision making and the winner will be announced later this year.

GBR will integrate the railways across the country, owning the infrastructure, collecting fare revenue, running and planning the network, and setting most fares and timetables.

Derby’s bid already has the support of councils across the East Midlands including Derby, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Nottingham, Leicester and Leicestershire, representing over three million people from across the region.

Dozens of businesses from within the rail sector and beyond are also backing Derby’s bid to be the home of Great British Railways. East Midlands Airport, East Midlands Railways, Sperry Europe, Costain, Deutsche Bahn ESG, Toyota, Loram, Serco, Derby College Group, Resonate, Train FX, Alstom and the University of Derby are just a few of the East Midlands organisations that have endorsed Derby’s bid.

Derby’s strong rail heritage and deep-rooted culture of future rail innovation make it the ideal central location for the new headquarters.

Derby is home to major players in the automotive and aviation industry including Rolls-Royce and Toyota making it uniquely placed for GBR to benefit from cross-sector collaboration and a highly skilled workforce.

Back the bid #DERBYGBR #DESTINATIONGBR

You can vote for Derby online.

Visit the Destination Derby website and sign up to the campaign.

Find out more about the National HQ Competition for GBR.