Support: Great British Railways HQ

Great British Railways: Vote for Newcastle 

Newcastle has been shortlisted to be the new location for the Great British Railways Headquarters (GBR HQ).  We need you to route for Newcastle and help bring the GBR HQ home to Newcastle! 


Background 

In May 2021, the Secretary of State for Transport committed to establishing Great British Railways, a single, accountable public body responsible for Britain’s railways. They are holding a competition to identify a new location for the Great British Railways (GBR) national headquarters which will be outside London.  

The bid (Expression of Interest) on behalf of Newcastle City Council to locate the headquarters here in the region was led by Invest Newcastle, part of Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI).  

The competition seeks to recognise places with a rich railway heritage, strong links to the national network and public support for the selected location, creating a great opportunity to promote communities as the proud home for the start of a new era in Britain’s railways.  

By expressing an interest in Newcastle becoming home to GBR, and the heart of Britain’s railways, this presents an opportunity for communities and their leaders to highlight and celebrate the proud railway heritage and the role we can play in the future as GBR national headquarters.  

By expressed an interest to become home to GBR, and the heart of Britain’s railways, this presents an opportunity for communities and their leaders to highlight and celebrate the proud railway heritage and the role we can play in the future as GBR national headquarters.  

Newcastle is amongst five other destinations who have been shortlisted to the next stage out of 42 towns and cities who submitted bids to become the new headquarters for Great British Railways. 


Vote for Newcastle

The general public will now have the chance to cast their vote on a shortlist of 6 locations, including:  

  • Birmingham 
  • Crewe 
  • Derby 
  • Doncaster 
  • Newcastle  
  • York 

A public vote went live from the 5th of July and will close on the 15th of August. 

It gives everyone the opportunity to vote for their preferred location from the shortlist. The results will be used to measure the level of support for each place and will be considered as part of final decision making.   The link to vote can be found here: www.gbrtt.co.uk/vote   

The next stage of the selection process will involve a ministerial visit to all of the shortlisted locations.  This will take place at the beginning of August.  

Newcastle now needs everyone’s support to help bring the HQ to the home of the railways. This will be creating jobs, opportunities for the future and a recognition for our city as a leading UK destination of choice. 


Our supporters

We’re bringing the Great British Railways HQ home to Newcastle! We are the home of the railway, and this is a city-wide collaboration to show support for the GBR HQ being in our city. 


Testimonials