The National College for High Speed Rail’s Birmingham campus has been approved by the city council’s planning committee.
The £22 million facility will be built on the site of the former Birmingham Science Park.
Although the National College for High Speed Rail will be split across two main campuses in Birmingham and Doncaster, it will also deliver training alongside regional partners.
Councillor John Clancy, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Birmingham is at the heart of the national HS2 network with Curzon Station, the construction headquarters in the city centre and the maintenance depot at Washwood Heath.
“The National College for High Speed Rail will be a much-needed conduit for the thousands of young engineers and scientists within Birmingham to access cutting-edge developments in high tech rail.”
John Evans, chief executive of the National College for High Speed Rail, said: “This is a significant step forward in the development of College and with Doncaster’s planning permission granted last December this is real progress for the College opening in September 2017.
“The National College for High Speed Rail will have a major impact on the ability of the UK rail supply industry to develop a suitable and sustainable workforce to deliver HS2 and other infrastructure projects in the future.”
As well as being at the centre of the HS2 network, Birmingham is also the home of HS2 Ltd. Yesterday (February 4), Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin officially opened the organisation’s headquarters at Two Snow Hill.
