What is described as “the UK’s ‘one stop shop’ for railway innovation” is going to be built on the former Nant Helen opencast site and Onllwyn Washery in south Wales. Last week the Welsh government completed the acquisition of the site from opencast mining company Celtic Energy.
The 700 hectare site at the head of the Dulais Valley will now be developed to become the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE).
The first phase of the masterplan construction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2025.
The formal acquisition of the land paves the way for the start of construction. A range of consultants and contractors. including Hirwaun-based Walters Group, Atkins, Fifth Studio, Arcadis and Mott MacDonald are working in an alliance to design the site and begin preparation for construction in early 2023.
However, as recently as September 2021 the Welsh government was describing it as a £150m project. In June this year it was being described as a £200m project.
In its announcement of the land acquisition last week the Welsh government said it was a £250m project.
GCRE chief executive Simon Jones said: “We are moving at pace to deliver on our ambitious plans to deliver a modern and comprehensive rail testing and innovation facility, building our team and preparing for construction with the aim of having our commercial rolling stock storage facility available to the market within the next 12 months.
“The next stage of our procurement process will begin shortly with both a meet the buyer event and the launch of a separate innovation competition next week to give potential suppliers and partners the opportunity to find out more about how they can get involved. This will be followed by the launch of an exciting investment prospectus to attract private funding for the project. With the support of the Welsh and UK governments and Powys and Neath Port Talbot local authorities, we really are on a mission to put Wales and the UK at the very heart of 21st century sustainable transport innovation.”
GCRE is split in to three core phases:
- Phase 1: The provision of sidings for rolling stock from the summer of 2023
- Phase 2: The building of two electrified test loops, one high speed test loop 6.9km long and a 4km Infrastructure test loop, together with supporting infrastructure and buildings from 2024
- Phase 3: The addition of expanded stabling, maintenance, and commissioning facilities along with research facilities, hotel, and business park in 2025 and ongoing.
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