TRANSPORT Minister John Spellar will visit York on Friday.

He will be the guest of Corus Rail Consultancy Ltd, of Hudson House, York.

The rail consultancy firm, which employs 300 people in the city, will demonstrate to the minister how the demand for railway investment has fuelled its growth by 50 per cent over the past 12 months.

Mr Spellar will be accompanied to York railway station by Hugh Fenwick, Corus Rail's managing director, as well as City of York Council's transport spokesman Dave Merrett and York MP Hugh Bayley.

There, Mr Spellar will study the ornate Victorian roof renovation work for Railtrack for which Corus Rail is project supervisor.

The visit will be seen as an assurance to the firm, which is involved in multi-million pound contracts with Railtrack whose days are numbered in its present form. That includes work on the East Coast mainline updates.

Updated: 10:54 Tuesday, November 20, 2001