The new National College for High Speed Rail is to be located in Birmingham and Doncaster, the government has announced.

The headquarters will be based in Birmingham and the college will also have a site in Doncaster. It will provide specialist vocational training to the next generation of engineers working on the High Speed 2 (HS2) project and beyond.

As many as 2,000 apprenticeship opportunities will be created by HS2, and there will be around 25,000 people employed during construction. HS2 will support growth in the wider economy and it is predicted that this could lead to an additional 400,000 jobs.


Prime Minister David Cameron said: "As a crucial part of our long term economic plan, this government is backing business with better infrastructure so that more jobs and opportunities are created for hardworking people.

"The benefits of high-speed rail will not just be seen by those commuting between London and the North, but through the thousands of local jobs and apprenticeships created because of HS2.

"The opening of this National College will also ensure that we have a pool of locally-trained workers with the right skills to draw upon for future projects."

The college will be located in Birmingham's city centre Science Park and Doncaster's Lakeside Campus. The governing board will be chaired by Terry Morgan, who is also the chair of Crossrail, and will include representatives from Birmingham and Doncaster, alongside HS2 Ltd and leading industry employers.

Work will now begin on building the college sites and developing the courses which will help to train the next generation of engineers and address concerns of potential future skills shortages.

(CD/JP)