Heywood is in the running to be the potential new home of Great
British Railways following a joint bid by local Councillors and
the Member of Parliament for Heywood & Middleton
In October Transport Secretary announced that a competition
would be run to identify the headquarters for Great British
Railways (GBR), the single, accountable public body responsible
for running Britain’s railways.
As part of major reforms designed to ensure decisions about the
railway are brought closer to the passengers and communities they
serve, GBR will require a new national headquarters alongside
regional headquarters.
The competition will recognise towns and cities with a rich
railway history ensuring the first headquarters will take pride
of place at the heart of a new era for Britain’s railways.
With the help of Rochdale Council's Economy team, a bid was put
together to highlight the town's proud history and its strategic
location as a possible future home for this major organisation.
The bid will now be assessed alongside other competing sites in
May this year with a final decision on the new home of GBR coming
this Summer.
Local MP said:
"I couldn't be happier that the DfT have recognised Heywood's
huge potential as a possible future home of GBR - all the
ingredients are here for incredible success and GBR would be a
welcome addition to the North East Growth Corridor, catalysing
investment and attracting exciting new jobs and training
opportunities. As far as I'm concerned it's 'full steam ahead'
for our bid."
Heywood Councillors Jacqui Beswick and Alan McCarthy who proposed
the bid said:
"This is exactly what Heywood needs - it's absolutely right that
the Government has recognised the potential of the area and
ranked our bid alongside strong contenders like Crewe or
Eastleigh. People here have a huge amount to offer and we could
make this a real success."
