£25m High Speed Rail college steaming ahead

DONCASTER’S National College for High Speed Rail is steaming ahead after getting the green light for construction.

Building at the Lakeside college, which aims to develop a highly skilled workforce surrounding the HS2 rail development, can now begin after the council gave its consent.

After a bidding war which ended with Doncaster sharing the High Speed Rail college with Birmingham, the Doncaster Council team will work with their Midlands counterparts and HS2 Ltd to deliver the National College for High Speed Rail.

Construction on the 77,500 sq ft three-storey building is scheduled to start in April 2016. The £25m training facility will open its doors for the first intake of students in September 2017.

Terry Morgan, chairman of the corporate board for the National College for High Speed Rail, said: “This is a significant step forward in the development of the National College for High Speed Rail and I am delighted that planning permission has been granted for the college at Lakeside in Doncaster.

“The college will have a hugely positive impact on the ability of the UK rail supply industry to develop a multi-skilled specialist British workforce that is essential to the timely delivery of HS2 and the ability to respond to other infrastructure projects in future.”

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones, said: “The National College for High Speed Rail is a game changer for Doncaster, the Sheffield City Region, Yorkshire and the North. It will encourage new investment, attract new companies into the borough and provide new high quality jobs for local people.

“We are on a fast track to deliver a major boost for our growing rail sector and the Doncaster economy.”