Birmingham remains ideal location for HS2 College say business leaders
BIRMINGHAM remains the ideal choice for the location of the proposed HS2 College, business leaders in the city have said.
The business leaders said the city’s case had been strengthened following remarks by Transport Minister Baroness Kramer, who was reported as saying that Birmingham would be “at the heart” of the high speed network.
The city has already been earmarked as the national base for the high speed rail network, with hundreds of workers set to relocate from London to offices at Two Snowhill.
The Minister was also reported as saying that HS2 would play a big part in the region’s future economic prosperity.
Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), said: “If the government regards Birmingham as being at the heart of the HS2 network then what better place could there be for the rail college?”
He said Birmingham was the logical location and it would be very practical for students with the maintenance depot and control centre for the railway planned for Washwood Heath.
“One of the proposed locations for the college is at Birmingham Science Park and that is at the heart of the Learning Zone and Enterprise Zone in Birmingham,” he added.
“So with the close proximity to the HS2 station at Curzon Street, Birmingham is a natural choice for the college.
“This is underlined by the fact that as a region, Greater Birmingham is a pioneer for forging stronger ties between schools, further education, higher education and employers. The chamber has recently helped unite the nine Further Education colleges to form a collaborative consortium.
“Birmingham is also the youngest city in Europe and the scale of opportunities for young people here will be enormous.”
Baroness Kramer will speaker further on the matter at the national HS2 conference, which takes place in Birmingham today (Friday).
The conference will look at Lord Deighton’s HS2 Growth Task Force’s report ‘High Speed 2: Get Ready’, which examines how HS2 stations can be connected to existing local transport infrastructure.
Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council and member of the West Midlands HS2 Strategic Board, said: “Vibrant, successful cities and their wider economic areas need high quality connectivity to support economic growth and HS2 is key to ensuring this connectivity for the West Midlands.
“During the last two years and through the work of the West Midlands HS2 Strategic Board, we have been working hard to ensure the region is well placed to maximise the economic benefits of the new railway.
“As the first region to benefit from high speed rail this conference will provide a great opportunity to share our ambitious plans for HS2 and facilitate the exchange of information and good practice in the UK and across the globe.”
