'There would be shock and incredulity if GNER's contract were to be awarded to another company'

ITS ornate red brick exterior and huge arched doorway were symbols of the grand empire which it oversaw.

Constructed in 1906 for the North Eastern Railway, Station Rise was the king of a city which ruled the regional rail network.

The marble floors, the huge hospital-type corridors, the elegant winding staircase - all were testament to the power wielded by those of influence in its offices and boardrooms.

Station Rise's place in York's history is secure. Its future is not. In recent years York has become something of a rail outpost.

Now, some believe even that status could be under threat.

One by one they have moved on or away. Railtrack, now Network Rail, relegated York to a northern "zone" when once it controlled the entire London North East network.

TransPennine Express, which runs cross-Pennines services through York, moved to Manchester when it set up its new base.

Arriva Trains Northern is gone its franchises stripped by the Strategic Rail Authority.

Its successor, Northern Rail, also favours the Lancashire city as a main base.

Which leaves GNER.

GNER employs 409 people in the city. Of those, more than three-quarters are based at Station Rise. The company's activities sustain more than 11,000 other posts, principally in travel and tourism.

Its partnership with York Tourism Board has brought millions of pounds into the city economy. Its sponsorship programmes have played a key role in the community.

Its main offices are still at Station Rise. But, should it lose its fight to win a new franchise on the East Coast Main Line, all that could be gone.

Next month, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) will announce who has won the race to run services for the next seven years on Britain's flagship rail route.

There are four companies in the running. GNER, the present incumbents, FirstGroup, Danish Railways and a consortium of Virgin and Stagecoach. For GNER, it is heavyweight opposition.

While chiefs are confident, they are taking nothing for granted.

What if they were to lose? What then of York's status as a railway city?

The Virgin/Stagecoach consortium is unlikely to make its base in York given that Virgin's West Coast franchise is run from Birmingham.

FirstGroup will not say where its base would be if it won the East Coast battle.

So, if GNER were to lose, it's quite likely that Station Rise's role as a major player in rail would finish.

With the East Coast emphasis shifting elsewhere, it is claimed the city economy could lose millions.

York MP Hugh Bayley has no doubts. He is campaigning hard for GNER to be given a new rail mandate.

Mr Bayley has introduced an Early Day Motion into the House of Commons calling on the Government to back GNER's franchise bid. It has been supported by influential MPs, including former cabinet ministers Nick Brown and Frank Dobson.

He said: "Everyone I have spoken to says that GNER has improved the rail service. People in York and the North East want continuity and are sure that GNER is doing a good job.

"I have been to see Alistair Darling (Secretary of State for Transport) and told him there would be shock and incredulity if GNER's contract were to be awarded to another company."

Mr Bayley says if the worst were to happen, York's rail industry would pick itself up and fight back. But he added: "I think GNER is very important to the city. It's a major employer and it is one of the important magnets that have attracted jobs to the city.

"I don't want to lose GNER."

GNER's value to York is not just being highlighted at a political level. Big business is also behind the firm.

Len Cruddas, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, has written to Mr Bayley backing GNER's bid.

"I have already written to the Secretary of State expressing the Chamber's support for GNER's bid," he said.

"During its tenure, GNER has transformed the quality of this service and while we support the principle of market testing to ensure value for money, we feel it would be an unacceptable risk to change the current service arrangements.

"The other reason for our support of GNER is the fact that they have a significant base in York, which adds considerable further benefit to the local economy."

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, agrees with those sentiments. "GNER is different from some other rail companies in the fact that it is destination led," she said.

"They have worked with us on our destination marketing and they have given the city national publicity that we can't get at other rail stations.

"They have supported the tourism board over the years, and helped in its campaigns. They are a major contributor to the York tourism economy."

GNER was a leading participator in the huge Railfest event which brought thousands of visitors to the National Railway Museum, last May.

It has raised funds for the York Dragon Boat Races, and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. It contributed to York's Christmas lights campaign.

But, most of all, it is proud to be in York.

Christopher Garnett, GNER chief executive, said: "We are hugely proud to be based in the great railway city of York, in the splendid offices that were originally built for the North Eastern Railway in 1906, and in our modern training complex at York Station. A survey by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency for Yorkshire and the Humber, has shown that the East Coast Main Line contributes at least £100 million a year to the regional economy, sustaining 11,000 jobs, mainly in travel and tourism.

"We work closely with the city council, tourism agencies and many other groups and individuals to enhance the economy of York and attract more people to visit this beautiful city - by train of course.

"Our own staff, more than 400 of them based in York, also contribute to city life both in direct economic terms and by being involved in activities in the community."

While train jobs would undoubtedly be saved and redirected without GNER, there's a real belief that the vital role the rail industry has placed in York life could be under threat if GNER was to bow out.

Trains would continue, services would continue to be enhanced.

But the city's great and good are of one mind. A vital part of York's past, and future, would be lost if the last train leaves GNER's platform this Apri1.

Updated: 11:04 Monday, January 24, 2005