Ben Everitt MP has continued his campaign with Iain Stewart MP to make Milton Keynes the new home of Great British Railways as the Government announced the competition has now officially opened.
As part of the Conservative Government’s commitment to level up the country, the new Great British Railways HQ will be based outside of London and bring a number of high-skilled jobs to the winning location.
Local economies will be further boosted by a number of regional headquarters based across the country, putting decision making and investment at the heart of the communities who use those railways day-to-day.
When Great British Railways was announced Iain and Ben both called on Milton Keynes Council to bid to become the home of the new HQ and wrote to the Transport Secretary outlining backing the bid with Milton Keynes already playing a huge role in the UK rail industry. MK is home to Network Rail’s The Quadrant and the world’s longest continuously running rail works Wolverton Works, and Bletchley Station will be benefitting from the Towns Fund, while East-West Rail will be a vital new connection linking Milton Keynes with Oxford and Cambridge.
The creation of Great British Railways was announced as a major pillar of the once in a generation reform launched by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. Great British Railways will be a single guiding mind that ends the fragmentation of the rail industry and drive benefits and improvements across the network.
Locations across the country with strong, historical links to the railway are encouraged to make the case for why they should be the new home of Great British Rail. The GBR Transition Team will shortlist the best applications in May, after which a public vote will help determine the winning location.
Bids to house the new HQ will be measured against six criteria:
- Alignment to Levelling Up objectives
- Connected and easy to get to
- Opportunities for Great British Railways
- Railway heritage and links to the network
- Value for money
- Public support
Local authorities, MPs and business groups are being encouraged to drive forward campaigns for why their community should be the #DestinationGBR by visiting www.gbrtt.co.uk/hq
This announcement follows the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, which sets out the Conservative Government’s plan to transform the UK by spreading opportunity and prosperity, with improving transport a core driver of this mission. It includes twelve bold national levelling up missions, which will be given status in law, and shift Government focus and resources to Britain’s forgotten communities throughout the 2020s.
Ben Everitt MP said: “Milton Keynes is absolutely the perfect place to be the new headquarters for Great British Railways.
“Not only have we got that historical link with rail through Wolverton Works where generations of families have worked, but we’ve also got the present with the fantastic Network Rail building and we will of course be at the heart of East-West Rail in the not-too-distant future.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Our railways have kept this country moving for almost two hundred years but it’s time to kickstart a new age that will shape our network for the next two hundred.
“I’m calling on people across the country to make the case for why the true home of the railways is on your doorstep”
