SWINDON is the "value for money" choice for the government when it comes to selecting the home of Britain's railways.

That is the view of Sir Robert Buckland, who made the case for his town in Westminster this week.

The South Swindon MP was speaking during a parliamentary debate ahead of the shortlisting of towns and cities vying to become the headquarters for the newly-created Great British Railways.

Swindon's bid is supported by North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson and Conservative countrtparts from Wiltshire Danny Kruger, James Gray and Michelle Donelan.

Swindon was the home of the Great Western Railway from 1840 and workers in the town built locomotives and carriages right until its closure by British Rail in 1986.

Sir Robert said: “The proposal that is set out in the documentation outlines a very exciting opportunity for the new headquarters to be located inside a railway works building right at the heart of the railway conservation area.”

At present most of the land that is being proposed for the new headquarters is already owned by Network Rail and Swindon Borough Council, which is also supporting the bid.

Swindon Advertiser: Robert Buckland MP

On this, Sir Robert added: “There would be no for difficult land acquisitions that cause delay to major projects.

“This is going to be an opportunity that I believe will give outstanding value for money to the government.”

As part of the criteria, a town or city has to have a heritage link to the railway.

The STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway now occupies part of the former railway works.

“It is a shrine to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but most importantly it is also a shrine to the great locomotives of the past,” Sir Robert added.

With Swindon just an hour by train to London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton, the proposal looks to be one of the strongest.

During her closing remarks, Rail Minister Wendy Morton announced that the shortlist would be announced by the Department for Transport in early June.

The other 41 towns or cities fighting to be on the shortlist are:

  • Barrow
  • Birmingham
  • Bishops Stortford
  • Bolton
  • Camborne
  • Carlisle
  • Carnforth
  • Coventry
  • Crewe
  • Darlington
  • Derby
  • Didcot
  • Doncaster
  • Dundee
  • Durham City
  • Eastleigh
  • Edinburgh
  • Fife
  • Gloucester
  • Grantham
  • Greater Manchester (excluding Bolton and Rochdale)
  • Heywood
  • Hull
  • Liverpool City Region
  • Milton Keynes
  • Motherwell
  • Newcastle
  • Northampton
  • Nuneaton
  • Perth
  • Peterborough
  • Preston
  • Southampton
  • Stockton-on-Tees
  • Tamworth
  • Tonbridge
  • Wakefield
  • Wellingborough
  • West of England Combined Authority (including Bristol and Bath)
  • Worcester
  • York

After the shortlist is announced, the public will then decide the location of Great British Railways' headquarters.

An announcement on the winner will follow this summer.