Great British Railways - Competition for new location of GBR Headquarters

[zwk500]

Should be at MK.

Why? It isn't at the moment.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why? It isn't at the moment.

It might not be officially the HQ but it is a major national centre and they already have the building. It is also diagonally opposite a railway station which already has a good service and will have an even better one post HS2. It does make sense to me, not just because I live here.

 

[xotGD]

With tongue firmly in cheek (!?!) one imagines a government competition which omits to specify that the host town must have a railway station. It would be a particularly British thing to end up with its rail HQ in a town not served by rail!

In that case I suggest Barnard Castle. I town that the nation is more familiar with than it ought to be.

 

[HSP 2]

Why not Paris, Brussels or Berlin, as most of the TOCs seem to be owned by companies from some of these country's plus some more.

 

[Bald Rick]

In that case I suggest Barnard Castle. I town that the nation is more familiar with than it ought to be.

You can get there by railway of course, just that it’s a long walk!

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Don't forget what was called the Railway Technical Centre in Derby is still government owned (through LCR Property); not sure how much of the office buildings (Brunel, Derwent, Trent, Kelvin Houses, etc) is vacant though

Although much of it was built in the 1960s (and it received an architectural award at the time), it has been continually updated; moreover, it's easily accessible from most other railway centres (the major exception being Milton Keynes) and from London

 

[Neo9320]

Don't forget what was called the Railway Technical Centre in Derby is still government owned (through LCR Property); not sure how much of the office buildings (Brunel, Derwent, Trent, Kelvin Houses, etc) is vacant though

Although much of it was built in the 1960s (and it received an architectural award at the time), it has been continually updated; moreover, it's easily accessible from most other railway centres (the major exception being Milton Keynes) and from London

RTC should always be (if it isn’t already) recognised as a historical site

 

[XAM2175]

Why not Paris, Brussels or Berlin, as most of the TOCs seem to be owned by companies from some of these country's plus some more.

Very little involvement from the French or the Belgians here. Amsterdam (for Abellio, although they're actually headquartered in Utrecht) and Rome (for Trenitalia) would have been better choices for the joke.

 

[31160]

Very little involvement from the French or the Belgians here. Amsterdam (for Abellio, although they're actually headquartered in Utrecht) and Rome (for Trenitalia) would have been better choices for the joke.

He got a point though

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If GBR really is to cover the whole of Great Britain, Scottish and Welsh bases are equally valid for an HQ.
The DVLA is in Swansea after all.
It could even be parked somewhere on Nicola's lawn.

 

[HSP 2]

Very little involvement from the French or the Belgians here. Amsterdam (for Abellio, although they're actually headquartered in Utrecht) and Rome (for Trenitalia) would have been better choices for the joke.

Who said it was a joke!

 

[XAM2175]

Who said it was a joke!

Well, for a start, the fact that GBR's largest function will be that it inherits from Network Rail - which is wholly owned by HM Government and thus about the closest to "entirely British" that you can get.

 

[Snow1964]

Today (5 July 2022), I am announcing the shortlist of the most suitable potential locations for the national headquarters of Great British Railways (GBR), which will go forward to a consultative public vote to be held online and by post.

The confirmed list of shortlisted towns and cities is:

• Birmingham
• Crewe
• Derby
• Doncaster
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• York

Official shortlist announced to choose home of Great British Railways

Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York will compete to be crowned the home of Britain’s railways.

www.gov.uk

There is also a public voting page on following link

GBR national HQ competition – Public vote | Great British Railways Transition Team

A public vote was held as part of the process to find a home for the national HQ for Great British Railways. Find out more about the shortlist.

gbrtt.co.uk

 

[Horizon22]

Grant Shapps has announced the shortlist and a vote.

https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1544233460256198656

I'm delighted to announce the towns & cities that will compete for the honour of being crowned the home of GB Railways are:
Birmingham
Crewe
Derby
Doncaster
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
York

 

[Bletchleyite]

I still think it should have been MK because they've got that dirty great building already!

But out of those it's a bit hard to choose:

Brum: centrally located to rail and road, the rational choice
Crewe: in serious need of some heavy regeneration, plus well rail-connected
Derby: strong traditional railway connection
York: same as Derby
Donny: same as Crewe to an extent plus historic railway connections
Newcastle: great city and as far from London as you can get (edit: in that list)

I think I would probably go Crewe, quite simply because of the regeneration potential for a town that is very much in the doldrums and needs a leg up, plus it's better connected by rail than some of the others and there's land near the station that could be used to build it so rail travel is prioritised.

 

[DelphDonkey]

What a waste of our money.

 

[Llandudno]

I reckon they will choose York as it’s the nicest place for all the high paid managers to want to live.

They ought to pick Crewe though, the town is crying out for investment and there are some very nice parts of Cheshire to live nearby!

 

[zwk500]

I reckon they will choose York as it’s the nicest place for all the high paid managers to want to live.

They ought to pick Crewe though, the town is crying out for investment and there are some very nice parts of Cheshire to live nearby!

The management will probably be working remotely 95% of the time!

I'd personally pick York, just because I prefer the town, but Crewe would be the more sensible choice if you're looking to stimulate investment, because Birmingham has had a fair amount of investment already.

 

[Horizon22]

I still think it should have been MK because they've got that dirty great building already!

But out of those it's a bit hard to choose:

Brum: centrally located to rail and road, the rational choice
Crewe: in serious need of some heavy regeneration, plus well rail-connected
Derby: strong traditional railway connection
York: same as Derby
Donny: same as Crewe to an extent plus historic railway connections
Newcastle: great city and as far from London as you can get

I think I would probably go Crewe, quite simply because of the regeneration potential for a town that is very much in the doldrums and needs a leg up, plus it's better connected by rail than some of the others and there's land near the station that could be used to build it so rail travel is prioritised.

I agree - seems strange to not have MK, but I imagine it will still remain a strong regional hub.

Also think Crewe seems to be the most sensible as a huge railway interchange, an eventual connection to HS2 and it could do with the regeneration.

 

[Lancy99]

What a waste of our money.

Exactly.

 

[Grumpy Git]

Crewe is the sensible choice, both from a rail connectivity and regeneration point of view, (which probably rules it out).

Derby would be my second choice for the same reasons and as the city of my birth.

I wonder if this is all grandstanding though and the decision is already made?

 

[DJ_K666]

I'd probably want to go with somewhere fairly central and with good railway connections. Crewe certainly fits the bill. If I was Shapps I'd put the office based management somewhere like MK and the heavy workers and machinery which would fo the actual work at Derby or Crewe, or scattered around thd country. But then if I was Shapps I'd be dropping the 'Great' and 'Ways' from the name, bringing back thd BR regions, putting Railway people in charge of the Railways and keeping the DaFT within the confines of the DaFT. Then instigating a suspiciously familiar monastral blue, pearl grey and custard yellow ended livery... can't remember which one that was. Must have slipped my mind temporarily.

 

[DarloRich]

this is utter nonsense

 

[Grumpy Git]

this is utter nonsense

Which bit?

 

[Spartacus]

Network Rail in MK have had lousy recruitment and staff retention problems, who would want to replicate that?! Besides, unless you want to travel on the WCML it's transport links aren't all that great.

I'm a little surprised by Newcastle being on there, it's the furthest removed, so will likely have staff recruitment/long term retention problems, and doesn't have great numbers of staff nearby already which will contribute to that. I'd probably say it's between York, Derby and Birmingham.

 

[Carlisle]

I'd probably want to go with somewhere fairly central and with good railway connections.

Then Newcastle fits best if we’re talking GB rather than just England.

 

[Mojo]

Out of all those Birmingham is the only sensible choice, purely because it’s closer to the capital.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Should’ve been London but I think York is a good choice

 

[Bletchleyite]

Then Newcastle fits best if we’re talking GB rather than just England.

As it's clear Scotland is likely to secede fairly soon, and even if it doesn't there's more than a passing chance its bit of Network Rail will end up completely devolved due to the pressure they will put for more devolution, then I think I wouldn't take Scotland into account in this way. Crewe isn't too far from the Central Belt by rail, anyway.

Out of all those Birmingham is the only sensible choice, purely because it’s closer to the capital.

Euston-New St 1h24
Euston-Crewe 1h30

If you consider that Crewe is such that they'll be able to build it right next to the station (and so they should) due to plentiful, cheap land (there's a load of street level parking it could be put on, with capacity restored by building a multi storey), but in Birmingham it'd have to go on an industrial park or in a suburb due to lack of available urban land and high cost of it, I'd say Crewe actually wins there, because the end to end journey from London will be quicker (1h30 plus a short walk vs. 1h24 plus a bus, tram or rail connection or more likely a taxi).

 

[DJ_K666]

Then Newcastle fits best if we’re talking GB rather than just England.

Maybe. Just have to see what happens.