GLOOMY news is sometimes followed by good. So it is for miners facing redundancy after the Selby coalfield closes next spring who have been thrown a valuable lifeline from York.

Up to 150 former miners from the pits are being given a chance to retrain for work in the rail industry.

Jarvis is a major York employer and the biggest firm working in rail infrastructure, with an annual turnover of £1 billion.

The firm sees an obvious fit between its work and that of miners, and the company believes that the ex-miners should make "natural Jarvis employees", thanks to a strong background in safety and their technical abilities.

The miners are being retrained and equipped with skills for the rail industry in a project organised by a number of agencies helping to find work for the 2,100 mineworkers who will be without jobs by this time next year.

Such ambitious schemes are clearly the way ahead at stark times. Last month Selby MP John Grogan was warning against the false optimism of a last-ditch trade union attempt to give the Selby complex a stay of execution.

Mr Grogan was right to dismiss such false hopes. The time for saving the Selby coalfield has now passed. That may well be a cause of sadness to many, but the only option now is to look ahead. The way forward is to find new work for those having to leave the mining industry.

This is why the tie-up with Jarvis makes good sense, and it is to be hoped that the 150 ex-miners retraining on the site of the closed colliery at North Selby will find employment after the scheme is completed.

Here, once again, is a happy illustration of the strength of York's infrastructure. With a mixed and vigorously varied economy, the city is able to weather difficult times - while also offering a future for those left out of work thanks to the decline of older industries, such as coal.

Updated: 10:21 Friday, March 14, 2003