On Wednesday, Derby City Council welcomed Rail Minister, Wendy Morton MP to the city as part of the Great British Railways competition.
The Minister arrived by train at Derby railway station and was greeted by Leader of the Council, Councillor Chris Poulter, Chief Executive Paul Simpson and local MP’s, Amanda Solloway, MP for Derby North, Lilian Greenwood, MP from Nottingham South and Sarah Dines, MP for Derbyshire Dales.
The delegation then moved on to Resonate in Pride Park, a leading digital signalling and traffic management provider. The Minister and members of the GBR Transition team then received a boardroom presentation expanding on Derby’s offer for GBR which emphasised the opportunity to locate at the heart of Europe’s leading rail cluster and to collaborate more closely with the private sector. The Minister also heard about potential locations for the new headquarters.
The Minister then visited the Derby College Roundhouse campus, which is centred around the world’s first railway roundhouse building dating back to 1839, and will become part of the new Institute of Technology.
Key stakeholders were on hand to discuss with the Minister some key agendas and opportunities associated with the future of rail, including talent and diversity, innovation and decarbonisation.
Rail related organisations represented included Alstom, SNC Lavalin, Ford & Stanley, Omnicom Balfour Beatty, Sperry Rail and ECSL, alongside the Rail Forum and key research centres at Universities of Derby, Loughborough and Nottingham.
The widespread regional support for the bid was represented by Midlands Connect, East Midlands Councils, East Midlands Chamber, Marketing Derby and D2N2 LEP.
The Minister also experienced the future of rail when meeting young rail professionals and apprentices from the likes of Alstom, EMR, Engineered Learning, Sperry Rail and Derby College.
Councillor Chris Poulter, Leader of Derby City Council said:
We’re delighted to host the Minister here in Derby, it’s been a great opportunity to share why we think that Derby is the perfect place for Great British Railways. I think the Minister was impressed with the rail cluster, history and the fact that we still design, make and maintain trains in Derby.
As a city, we’re ideally located in the centre of UK and sit at the heart of the rail network. Not only do we have 22 MPs from across the region supporting us but all 40 councils in the East Midlands too.
Voting for the Great British Railways competition closes on Monday 15 August. To vote visit www.derbygbr.co.uk/vote.
Take a look at a selection of photos from yesterday’s visit to the Roundhouse.
