Great British Railways has taken a concrete step towards establishment with the confirmation of a permanent headquarters in Derby and a large-scale apprenticeship scheme, the UK Department for Transport announced on 14 October 2026.
The Department for Transport said its report, Great British Railways takes shape as HQ and apprenticeship scheme confirmed, sets out plans that will see a new HQ in Derby employing up to 450 staff and an apprenticeship programme offering places for up to 600 young people. The announcement frames these measures as central components in forming the new public body envisaged to oversee the rail network.
The publication by the Department on 14 October 2026 lays down the two headline figures for staffing and apprenticeships, and presents them as immediate deliverables tied to the establishment of Great British Railways. The report’s title, reproduced by the Department, makes clear the twin priorities of locating an operational base and creating entry routes for new talent.
Derby selected as headquarters
The report confirms Derby as the chosen location for the new headquarters, with capacity for up to 450 employees. The Department described the move as part of the organisational design for Great British Railways, signalling the intent to concentrate a substantial portion of the new body’s workforce at that site.
Locating headquarters functions in Derby represents a visible, centralising measure in the formation of the organisation, according to the Department’s published note. The confirmed staffing figure establishes a clear numerical benchmark for the scale of civil service and operational roles to be based there.
Apprenticeships and workforce scale
Alongside the HQ confirmation the report sets out an apprenticeship programme that will provide up to 600 places for young people. The Department presents the scheme as a major recruitment and skills route, intended to bring new entrants into roles that will support the newly formed body’s responsibilities.
The two figures together, for headquarter staff and apprenticeships, provide concrete metrics for the early phase of Great British Railways’ staffing strategy, as set out by the Department on 14 October 2026. They establish target capacities both for centrally based staff and for an intake of apprentices who may feed into operational and professional roles.
Taken together the headquarters confirmation and the apprenticeship commitment form the clearest description yet in Department of Transport material of how Great British Railways will begin to populate its workforce. The published report places emphasis on establishing an operational home and opening routes for new talent as immediate priorities for the organisation’s formation.
The Department’s release of these details on 14 October 2026 provides an initial, measurable outline of staffing ambitions as Great British Railways is stood up. The two headline numbers, up to 450 staff and up to 600 apprentices, will now serve as the baseline against which subsequent announcements and implementation reports can be compared, according to the Department’s own presentation of the plans.
The confirmation of location and of apprenticeship places marks a decisive administrative step in the process of establishing the new body, as described in the Department’s report. The publication supplies the fundamental figures that will shape early recruitment and operational planning for Great British Railways as it moves from proposal to delivery.
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