GEORGE Hudson would have approved.

It was the ‘Railway King’ who, in Victorian times, ensured York was one of the great rail centres of the age.

Now the city is bidding to host the new, national high speed rail college. If successful, the city would once again be at the forefront of railway know-how.

There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t succeed.

Yes, there are strong bids from other cities – Derby, Crewe, Doncaster and Birmingham among them, but none can offer the advantagesYork does.

In York Central, we have the perfect site for the college, next to the railway station, the National Railway Museum, and Network Rail’s new operations and training centre. Network Rail has actually submitted York’s bid, in partnership with the city council and the NRM – a massive vote of confidence.

York has the expertise, too. Despite the closure of the carriageworks, this remains the largest rail industry centre in the UK outside London. Ten per cent of the UK’s national rail industry is based here, employing 5,600 people.

Because of York’s excellent rail connections, about 6.7 million people – ten per cent of the UK population – live within an hour’s rail journey of the city. So a college here would be accessible, and locating it here would help achieve one of the government’s key aims with HS2 of rebalancing the UK economy from south to north.

Finally, there is overwhelming support for the York bid from the rail industry itself. More than 60 rail relevant organisations have swung their weight behind us – among them major manufacturers like Hitachi and Tata.

With a case this strong, we believe ministers will decide to locate the high speed rail college here, in the railway capital of the North where it belongs. We look forward to that decision.