Great British Railways: What we still don't know

The "station masterplan" envisioned by Derby City Council

To some, it feels like we've been talking about Great British Railways (GBR) - the government's attempt to overhaul and modernise the railways with a new public body to oversee them - for a long time.

There was also time when it was touch and go as to whether the project would happen at all.

It was announced more than a year ago that Derby had beat off competition from several other cities to house the headquarters of GBR.

But after a period of uncertainty, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was clear in her commitment to it last week on a visit to the city for the launch of the idea of a new "Derby rail campus", an industry hub that would complement the new headquarters.

She was also clear that the money would be there for it.

When asked if the plans would be trimmed to cut costs, she told the BBC: "Absolutely not. Derby should be absolutely assured that this an investment in Derby, and its future at the heart of the railways."

The new laws needed to create the body are expected to be passed next year.

But there's still plenty that we don't know about GBR, and how it could shape the city's future.

The location

Despite Derby City Council having already launched the idea of a campus to go alongside the headquarters of GBR, we're still waiting for an announcement as to where the HQ will actually be.

We do, however, have five possible locations that have been earmarked. It's believed that the two that are closest to the railway station are being viewed particularly favourably.

They possible sites are:

• Becketwell

• Derby Works

• Midland House

• Pride Point

• RTC Derby

Midland House, the former headquarters of the historic Midland Rail Company, is earmarked for refurbishment

Some are currently undergoing, or about to undergo, major refurbishment. Midland House is one, which will be revamped as part of the Station Quarter regeneration project to improve access to the city from the railway station.

However, the city council is currently still consulting on the "station masterplan", so we don't have a firm timeframe as to when this key element of ensuring Derby becomes the major transport hub envisioned will be completed.

The rail campus

The idea of Rail Campus Derby is to co-locate businesses in the orbit of the new headquarters to encourage innovation and investment.

But we're not sure exactly what this will look like.

A rail insider told the BBC it may not necessarily reflect a "campus" in the traditional sense. Whether or not businesses actually end up operating within a campus will depend on the scope allowed for this by the location of the headquarters.

The authority is still asking businesses for ideas as to how all this might actually look. It's likely that any sense of a "campus" will be built up over several years -perhaps in the manner of the Treasury's Darlington campus.

But we do know that the idea has been received positively by businesses which are keen to build on the existing presence of the rail industry in Derby, which currently supports about 11,000 jobs.

Council leader Nadine Peatfield says the campus is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

"One that will create more training and jobs for local people, and bring huge opportunities for further regeneration," she added.

There has been no word yet, though, on how many more jobs will be generated by the campus and GBR more broadly.

Pride Point in Pride Park is another possible location for the GBR headquarters

Funding

There is no concrete budget for GBR yet, so we can't say how much it'll cost.

Despite warm words from the transport secretary, it's still the case that government finances are in a particularly tight spot at the moment.

One rail business told the BBC that many similar firms were "holding horses" to see what the chancellor's budget brings in a couple of weeks' time before taking any big investment decisions. How confident they're feeling afterwards may prove pivotal.

Local leaders are also pretty open about the need to attract what the city council is calling "significant private sector investment" - as is hoped for with the station masterplan, for example.

There's always an element of private sector involvement with major regeneration schemes.

But the importance of doing this effectively for GBR in Derby will take on new meaning in the context of a government keeping a tight hold on the purse strings.