Plans for a new college to train the next generation of top engineers to work on the construction of the £50billion HS2 high-speed rail project have been unveiled by the UK Government.
The announcement came after yet another top politician – this time Foreign Office Minister David Lidington – expressed concern about the project, whose first London to Birmingham phase runs through Tory heartlands in the Chilterns.
Announced by Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock, the new college will deliver the specialised training and qualifications needed for high-speed rail, which will benefit HS2 and other future infrastructure projects across the country.
It will offer the necessary technical training, including rail engineering, environmental skills and construction to make HS2 a success and ensure it can be built by skilled British workers.
It will be the first new incorporated Further Education College in more than 20 years.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “HS2 is the biggest infrastructure project that this government is delivering. So it is right that a large scale investment in bricks and mortar should also come with investment in the elite skills which will help build it. “
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that when HS2 is completed it would “underpin the delivery of 400,000 jobs”.
It is expected that HS2 will create up to 2,000 apprentices during the lifetime of construction. Also, it is expected the college will open in 2017, the date for the first London to Birmingham phase of HS2 to begin. The first phase is due for completion in 2026, with a second phase, taking the line on a Y-shaped route to north west and north east England, due to be finished in 2032/33.
Mr Hancock made the announcement on a visit to the HS2 cross-over station site at Old Oak Common in north west London railway.
Also present was former Network Rail chief executive Sir David Higgins who was making his first public appearance since taking over as chairman of HS2 Ltd, the body charged with promoting and delivering HS2.
Sir David said: “This country produces some of the best engineers to be found anywhere in the world. The problem is that there aren’t enough of them, and there isn’t a long enough guaranteed work-stream to keep them here. So they tend to go overseas. HS2 provides us with a unique chance to address both issues.
Mr Lidington’s concerns have been over what he regards as “misleading” information from HS2 Ltd to residents affected by the HS2 high-speed rail project.