Construction of £25m National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster reaches next stop

The new National College for High Speed Rail is staying on track after planning permission was granted for the college at Lakeside in Doncaster yesterday (15 December 2015).

This is the latest milestone for the £25m college, which will develop the highly skilled workforce required to build HS2 and other infrastructure projects in the future.

Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “The National College for High Speed Rail is progressing at a rapid rate of knots. With planning approval secured it signals the green light for this transformational project to move into its construction phase.”

Terry Morgan, chair of the corporate board for the National College for High Speed Rail, added: “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.”

Doncaster Council’s project team has conducted significant work in partnership with Birmingham City Council and HS2 Ltd to deliver the National College for High Speed Rail which will have two main sites in Doncaster and Birmingham.

Work has been taking place to ensure Doncaster benefits during this major scheme. In November 2015, over 90 representatives from local firms attended a supplier engagement and networking event organised by Doncaster Council’s Business Doncaster team and Willmott Dixon – the contractor appointed to build the National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster.

This formed part of the council’s commitment to support Doncaster companies and provide them with opportunities to win work during construction.

Mayor Ros Jones, continued: “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.”

Construction of the 7,200 sq m 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.

HS2 will support up to 100,000 jobs nationwide, create around 25,000 jobs during construction of Phases One and Two and create 2,000 apprenticeships. The college is the only way to provide world-class training for this size of workforce to build, operate and maintain the railway.