Plans to convert former rail college into Centre of Excellence under negotiation

The National College of Advanced Technology (NCATI) opened in 2017 as part of a government scheme to train engineers to develop rail project HS2.

It closed just six years later in 2023 due to low student numbers, with staff stating that they were unable to secure employers to invest in apprenticeships.

Four months later, the government announced that the northern leg of HS2 would be scrapped, with the railway now only set to reach Birmingham.

Doncaster Council has since taken ownership of the former NCATI site, which remains vacant.

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Mayor Ros Jones has now announced that negotiations are ongoing to reopen the site, with a similar focus on rail technology.

She said: “Let us remember that this was a flagship government policy to develop the workforce to deliver High Speed 2, which has since been largely cancelled and will now only connect outer London with Birmingham.

“As Dan Fell CEO of the Doncaster Chamber said last year, it is undeniable that the lack of consistency in UK government railway investment hindered NCATI since it opened.

“High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd) has been significantly cut back and largely cancelled following years of uncertainty. Northern Powerhouse Rail was originally put forward in 2014 by then Chancellor George Osborne, before being scaled down by Boris Johnson, then a promise of the scheme in full by Liz Truss, then scaled back yet further by Rishi Sunak, bringing us to where we stand now, with HS2 planned from outer London to Birmingham and we are no further with Northern Powerhouse Rail.

“We’ve had 14 years of chaos with the Conservatives, with no long-term plan for our railways.

“The former NCATI college has now been handed to Doncaster Council and we are currently in commercially confidential negotiations, and I do hope to be able to see some good news in due course.

“Discussions are ongoing in relation to its future, the aim is to convert the site into a Centre of Excellence that will focus on similar industry.”