We’re giving you the unique opportunity to name a new railway training facility in Doncaster when it officially opens this October.
The site, in Carolina Way near Lakeside, was once the National College for High Speed Rail. We took over the building in late 2024 and since then we’ve been making plans to transform the facility, which will serve as a hub for operational training, education and development for up to 1,000 rail workers from across the industry each year.
Doncaster has a proud railway heritage and now, in the 200th anniversary year of the railway, the public has a chance to play a part in its future too, by deciding which name, from a shortlist of four, will be bestowed upon the building.
The official name reveal is scheduled for October.
Vote for your winner
The shortlisted names are:
- Duddington & Bray House – recognising the vital contributions of Doncaster-locals Joe Duddington (engine driver) and Tommy Bray (fireman) who achieved a world speed record for steam of 126 mph in 1938 with the Mallard locomotive, built in Doncaster.
- Flying Scotsman House – honouring the legendary locomotive built at Doncaster Works in 1923, which became the first steam locomotive officially recorded reaching 100 mph and remains one of the most famous trains in the world.
- The Corridor – acknowledging the famous East Coast Main Line corridor, one that runs through Doncaster, connecting London to Scotland.
- The Gresley Institute – in tribute to Sir Nigel Gresley, the brilliant chief mechanical engineer who designed both Mallard and the Flying Scotsman at Doncaster Works, revolutionising steam locomotive design.
Voting closes at midnight on Thursday 25 September.
Celebrating Doncaster’s extraordinary railway legacy
All shortlist options have been developed in collaboration with City of Doncaster Council and celebrate the city’s rich railway heritage.
Laura Smith, Network Rail’s programme manager for the new training centre, said: “This facility will allow us to provide top class training to current and future colleagues across the railway industry and builds on Doncaster’s proud railway heritage.
“We want the public to help us choose a name that celebrates the city’s remarkable railway legacy. It’s fitting that during Railway 200, the people of Doncaster and railway enthusiasts everywhere can play a part in continuing the town’s railway story.”
