When the government decided to fund an institution to lure engineering students to learn everything needed for HS2, the biggest project around, it might have seemed a name with cachet. But 18 months since opening its doors and having struggled to attract entrants, the National College of High Speed Rail has decided to ditch the words “high-speed rail”.
With the second phase of the HS2 network yet to be confirmed, and Conservative leadership hopefuls discussing axing the entire scheme, the college has launched a consultation over a new name: the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure.
Board minutes from December said several members saw the name as a “limiting factor” for the college, which was set up across two campuses in Birmingham and Doncaster with help from various national and regional government bodies, including the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd.
The college was reported in October to have signed up just 96 students for the year, although it aims to be taking on 1,200 a year by 2022. It said it had reached 335 full-time learners and apprentices for this year, against a target of 396. An additional £4.5m of grant funding from the Department for Education has also since been secured to cover a projected £7.5m shortfall over the next seven years.
Clair Mowbray, chief executive of the college, said the proposed name change was in response to conversations with employers to broaden the remit, rather than to attract more students. She said it was a “very challenging first year” but added: “As a brand new college, from a standing start we were always working to a five-year period.”
She denied the travails of HS2 had encouraged the college to drop high-speed rail from the name: “HS2 if anything seemed to be an attractive thing to young people who want to make a difference.
“The name change is responding to industry demands … People [are] talking to us about doing more across the transport sector and for it not to be just limited to HS2.”
She added: “Rail is known for boom and bust … You have to make sure you have a transferable skill base.”
Mowbray said HS2 had “laid bare the skills challenge in this country” but there was the potential for “social mobility and opportunity it opens up for people in this country”.
But even if HS2 were to fall through, Mowbray said “high-speed rail is an international business. We as a college would continue to exist.”
A spokesperson for HS2 said: “We fully support the proposed name change, which enables the college to better reflect the breadth of high-quality learning and skills opportunities it delivers.”
Demolition work has started for the first section of the £55.7bn railway, linking London and Birmingham. However, the original timetable for legislative approval for the second phase has slipped and the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has warned it is not a “done deal”, with many in his party and beyond opposing the scheme, amid warnings the budget could escalate.
