The Derby Railway Engineering Society (DRES) offers its congratulations to the City of Derby and to the whole of the Derby bid team for winning the competition to be the location of the headquarters of Great British Railways (GBR).

The Department for Transport (DfT) selected Derby on 21st March 2023, following an extremely competitive bidding process which included strong bids from many other prospective locations across the UK.

Derby becoming GBR HQ reflects the city’s major role in Britain’s railways, past, present and future, across all sectors of the rail industry.

DRES, founded in 1908 to serve the needs of the railway engineering community in Derby, actively supported Derby’s bid to become GBR HQ, so is very proud to be associated with this momentous result for the City.

Neil Foster the President of DRES commented “DRES was originally established to support the education of railway staff and to promote railways. Through our lectures, visits and networking programme we continue with that quest and welcome anyone with an interest in rail. Promoting railways and engineering within Derbyshire and the surrounding area will be key to underpinning the railway workforce, enabling the region to benefit from the new opportunities that GBR will bring to the people of Derby. DRES looks forward to supporting this process”

Image: President Neil Foster with Councillor Alison Martin (May 2022).