The ‘critical’ investment for Derby is among Great British Railways’ plans

The Transport Secretary praised the ‘proud’ heritage of the city’s railways, the incredible talent and skills of rail sales.

The Transport Secretary says the Government is “putting our money where our mouth is” in Great British Railways, pointing out that “very important investment” is in the vicinity of Derby.

Heidi Alexander visited Nottingham on Wednesday (April 1) to discuss the launch of a new transport plan, where she spoke about ongoing work to bring Great British Railways headquarters to the city.

The ambitious plan would bring together 17 different organizations and instead run Britain’s railways as a single entity, Great British Railways, for the first time in decades.

The exact location of GBR’s headquarters in Derby is yet to be announced, but GBR’s transition team is already working on the future of the city’s biggest organisation.

Derby won the right to be the home of GBR after beating off competition from six other railway towns and cities through a Government decision and public vote.

Speaking in Nottingham, Heidi Alexander told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We have strong plans to work with Mayor Claire Ward, bringing the headquarters of Great British Railways to Derby, which will be a very important investment in the city.

“It’s a city with a proud rail heritage, incredible talent and skills in the rail supply chain there. I think we’re putting our money where our mouth is.”

On his trip to the East Midlands, the Transport Secretary also spoke about the new government transport policy, which will give local politicians more power to help passengers use buses, trams and trains easily without downloading multiple mobile devices or taking several tickets at the same time.

Commuters in Nottingham and Derby can now use the Ride app, run by the East Midlands Combined County Authority, to plan journeys and buy bus and tram tickets, as well as hire Lime bikes and Dott e-scooters.

“One of the reasons I came to Nottingham to launch our well-connected strategy is to deliver the right public transport system in England, because I know Nottingham is really at the top when it comes to integration,” he told LDRS.

“Here you have combined tickets, so you don’t need to buy multiple bus, tram and train tickets. You have reliable real-time information. That’s what I want to take to other parts of the country.”

The East Midlands has a history of poor transport funding, and promises made for key infrastructure projects have been broken.

The transport secretary told the LDRS that he wanted to “fix some of the mistakes of the previous Conservative government when it came to our public transport system and our road network.”

High Speed ​​​​2 (HS2) was originally intended to stop at Toton at the new East Midlands station, before this was canceled in favor of the existing East Midlands Parkway by former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

However, Keir Starmer’s predecessor, Tory PM Rishi Sunak, went ahead to cancel the entire East Midlands leg of the high-speed rail link, leaving the area high and dry.

He added: “I think that combined with a good bus network, a good tram network, connected to the national rail network, near maintained roads, properly developed intersections to relieve congestion.

“Those are the basics. That’s what this policy is about.”

The Mayor of East Midlands, Claire Ward, added: It is a real example for the whole country because we have a very good bus service, one of the best bus services in the country, which is often voted as such. Bus drivers are smart, but they are also integrated into the tram system and our great rail network too.

“We see this as an example, that’s why we are now interested in what are the possibilities for rural transport to be integrated as well.

“In the future we want to see shared transport in the region.

“What we’ve been showing the Secretary of State is the Ride app, initially funded by the Government, being developed over the next few years, launched here in Nottingham and Derby, a project that shows trams, buses, trains, scooters, e-bikes all in real time.

“It’s been a huge success so far with over 15,000 downloads. What we see is the opportunity to expand that over the next few years across the region.”