Council votes to support Carlisle’s Great British Railways bid
Carlisle’s bid to be the home of the Great British Railways Headquarters has received unanimous support from councillors.
Carlisle City Council voted to support Carlisle’s bid at full council on Tuesday night.
The Government has launched the competition to find a home in the North of England for the organisation which will take over as the single accountable governing body for Britain’s railways.
Cllr James Bainbridge, of the Conservative Group, proposed a motion on Tuesday, calling on the council to support Carlisle’s bid.
He said that Carlisle’s rail heritage and exciting future of economic development gives the city a strong chance in the competition.
He said: “Over the 170 years of the rail which predates Carlisle City Council, predates Cumbria County Council, predates even councillors in this building, it’s been an up and down history. We’ve had good times, we’ve had bad times, we’ve had to be at war, we’ve had to deal with famine but the railway has always matched Carlisle’s aspirations.
“Moving to the present, with rail passengers up, the Borderlands transformation of the station, we’ve one of the largest rail freight depots in the country which was once the largest depot in Europe.”
Cllr Bainbridge called on councillors across the chamber to support Carlisle’s bid.
Labour unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to the motion which would have expressed the importance of protecting existing rail jobs.
Leader of the Labour Group Lisa Brown said: “By the financial year’s end, passengers may well be paying higher fares for fewer, more crowded trains.
“The result of that will push more people into using cars but also completely undermine the Government’s levelling-up promise, since poorer people are far more dependent on public transport.
“Of course we want to be successful in this bid, but when Whitehall tells us we’re part of the Northern Powerhouse and that we’re going to be levelled-up, we need to be realistic.”
Cllr Brown said that initiatives like the Borderlands transformation “aren’t happening now, they’re years from completion, we need to recognise the real problems in our rail networks and the danger to those well paid secure jobs many Carlisle residents have had for generations.
“So we’re not opposing the motion but we would like to offer our support to every partner that’s in this.”
That amendment was defeated 12 votes for, 22 against. Cllr Bainbridge’s original motion passed unanimously.
Independent councillor Paul Nedved spoke in favour of the motion and Carlisle’s bid to host the Great British Railways headquarters.
He said: “I can think of a number of sites it would be possible, with my own ward context, I think there’s opportunities up north of the river; in the Kingmoor Park you’ve got enterprise status there, Kingmoor Marshalling Yards are there. There’s ample opportunities to the north of the city where this could be sited and that’s not including other parts of the city.”