For the Community
The ambition for The Global Centre of Rail Excellence site is to make it a place where people and ideas can come together, for the mutual benefit of the rail industry, the environment, the economy and, crucially, for the local community.
Global Centre of Rail Excellence Community Roadshow
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence is one of the most important infrastructure developments to benefit the local area in recent years, with positive impacts for the economy, the environment and for local businesses and communities nearby.
Work is now underway to construct the new facility – a world class rail innovation centre on the former Nant Helen opencast site.
We are are always keen to talk to local residents and stakeholders about our wider plans for the site and to provide meaningful ways for you to ask questions of the GCRE team.
We recently held a series of ‘Roadshow’ events designed to help local communities meet the GCRE team and find out more about the exciting plans. A copy of the exhibition boards from that event can be found in the link below.
Following this and the questions asked in the sessions, we have prepared a question and answer document that we will keep updated as the development progresses.
For more information about GCRE please visit www.gcre.wales or to contact the team email enquiries@gcre.wales
Next GCRE Community Roadshow
The Global Centre Of Rail Excellence will be holding its next Community Roadshow event in Onllwyn in July.
The session will allow members of the public to hear more about the plans for the site and to provide a forum to ask questions of the Global Centre Of Rail Excellence team.
The event will be held on:
– Wednesday 17th July
– From 3pm to 7pm
– At the Onllwyn Welfare Hall, Wembley Avenue, Onllwyn, SA10 9HL
If you live in the area and are interested in knowing more about the Global Centre Of Rail Excellence – come along!
A brighter economic tomorrow
The vision for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence has always been much more than simply concrete sleepers and steel rails laid down on the ground.
One of the foundational strengths of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence is the support the project has received from local communities, businesses and civil society around the site. As an economic development project GCRE represents an important opportunity for the villages nearby; for the wider economic region; for Wales and for the UK as a whole.
The project offers the opportunity of good quality jobs and skills today, and the opportunity to build a brighter economic tomorrow for the community and young people in the area. That support is as important an asset to the project as any other.
Economic Impact
Independent economic analysis has shown that GCRE will:
Create 1,100 jobs
Contribute £300m of GVA uplift to the economy.
Ensure that for every £1 spent on the GCRE facility will deliver £15 of wider benefits.
Committed to the Local Community
The GCRE team is committed to working with the local community, from construction through to its successful operation, to ensure the vision for the project is clearly visible and understood.
GCRE seeks a genuine dialogue about what the project is and how it’s developing with the local community. GCRE has formed a Regional Committee and a Local Liaison Group as part of its governance framework that it will use throughout the project – from construction to operation – to ensure the local community voice is heard.
More detail of local community engagement will be posted on this page.
GCRE Regional Committee
Minutes of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence Regional Committee can be found here:
