The UK government has shortlisted six cities and towns as potential homes for the national headquarters of the new Great British Railways (GBR) public body which will oversee rail transport from next year.
The shortlist of locations for the GBR headquarters is: Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle upon Tyne and York. The government had already decided that the HQ should be outside London before launching the competition as part of its “levelling up” strategy.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps started a contest in February to choose the GBR head office with the government receiving 42 entries from local authorities around the country.
A “consultative” public vote, which runs until 15 August, has been launched to assess support for the six finalists, although ministers will make the final decision later this year.
Shapps said: “The new national GBR headquarters will be supported by a number of new regional headquarters across the country, putting decision-making and investment at the heart of communities that use those railways day to day.
“The government is committed to levelling up, delivering jobs and investment beyond the capital.”