Just say “Gresley Institute” and everyone in Britain will know. It just has to be railway-related in a big way, and it’s probably ot something to do with Doncaster in South Yorkshire. That’s why Network Rail’s new railway industry training centre has been named for the engineer whose name is as much an icon as his most famous creations.
It might have been called “The Flying Scotsman Centre”, but the public vote blew that completely off the rails. By more than two-to-one, the stylish Doncaster Lakeside building, as streamlined as an A4 Pacific locomotive, has steamed into a new life as The Gresley Centre. Network Rail has announced the branding following a public vote, held in partnership with the City of Doncaster Council, which attracted over 3,500 responses.
Absolute landslide majority for Nigel (not that one)
He was born in Edinburgh. A memorial has centre stage in that city’s Waverley Station. However, Sir Nigel Gresley is forever synonymous with Doncaster Railway Works. So, it was never going to be as close as the Dutch elections. Running away with the title, and scoring an absolute landslide majority at the first time of asking, Network Rail’s new training centre is now named The Gresley Institute.
The three-storey building on Carolina Way near Lakeside is being brought back into use by Network Rail. Formerly home to the National College for High Speed Rail, the building has been transformed into a modern, streamlined centre for operational training, education and development. The first students are already in their classrooms. Eventually, the Gresley Institute will train up to 1,000 rail industry professionals each year.
The most famous and the fastest
Lakeside Doncaster is becoming a training and research hub. The Gresley Institute will join DB Cargo UK’s East Coast training centre. The name of the new institute honours Sir Nigel Gresley. The visionary chief mechanical engineer designed both classes of express steam locomotives that became Flying Scotsman and Mallard, respectively, the most famous and the fastest steam locomotives in the world.
“It has been wonderful to have thousands of people taking part in the vote, [and] we’re thrilled to see the transformation of the Doncaster site,” said Sarah Newman, Network Rail business change manager. “The Gresley Institute will become a cornerstone for training the next generation of rail industry professionals.”
Entirely appropriate and anniversary upcoming
Nigel Gresley was the chief engineer of the original incarnation of the London and North Eastern Railway. The 1923 incorporation of LNER was a mixed-traffic, vertically integrated business. It was one of four massive geographically distinct corporations, each of which was responsible for the railway in its entirety. The original LNER is best remembered for its prestige express train, The Flying Scotsman. If not for that Edinburgh and London express, LNER would have been all about stodgily dependable commuter routes and coal trains. Nigel Gresley changed all that.
“Sir Nigel Gresley lived in Doncaster for many years, and his greatest engineering achievements were created here – including in his streamlined trains of the 1930s, Britain’s first high speed trains,” explained Philip Benham, chairman of the Gresley Society Trust. “Development and innovation were at the heart of Sir Nigel’s designs, so it is entirely appropriate that his name should be associated with the Institute where the rail industry’s future professionals will learn their skills. Next year will see the 150th anniversary of Sir Nigel Gresley’s birth, so this naming is especially timely.”