MORE than 150 rail jobs are set to return to York through a £10m deal for the Thrall wagonworks site, the Evening Press can reveal today.

Newly-formed Holgate Rail Industries Ltd (HRI) is on the brink of securing the entire Holgate Road complex from owners Ashtenne to carry out maintenance on railway support vehicles.

It is believed the deal could be signed "within weeks".

HRI director Nigel Box said they hoped to recruit from the local workforce, including former Thrall employees, if their "skills were right".

The news is as another extraordinary twist in the long-running saga of the former York carriageworks, which closed in 1995. In 1997, Thrall Europa arrived from the United States to save the site for rail workers - but last year it closed again with the loss of 260 jobs. The Evening Press recently reported that a mystery rail company - today revealed as HRI - was interested in taking over the site.

Mr Box said he and two other directors set up HRI with the "express purpose" of buying the Thrall site.

The trio have worked in York for many years as independent buyers for large rail firms such as Network Rail.

Mr Box said today he was hopeful that the deal would go through.

"We're looking to purchase the site as it is ideally placed."

"Negotiations with Ashtenne are progressing very well. We hope to use the site as a maintenance facility for railway support vehicles.

"There's a big gap in the market at the moment. Maintaining rail equipment has become much more sophisticated and needs to be done indoors."

Mr Box said they also hoped to use the site as a rail training centre and would look to stay there for "decades to come".

HRI has already submitted a planning application to reinstall a "vital" rail link into the Holgate Road site from Klondike Sidings.

It is also believed that a small section of land belonging to Yorkshire Forward would also need to be acquired before the deal could be completed.

York council leader Steve Galloway said: "It's potentially excellent news for the city.

"It would secure a rail-related activity on this historically-important site and maintain rail manufacturing skills in the city.

"It means that some of the investment made in the area which we feared might be lost can now contribute to this deal getting off the ground.

"There are obviously hurdles to be overcome, but I expect Yorkshire Forward to enthusiastically support the initiative."

Former Thrall workers today welcomed the news.

John Taylor, 26, of Acomb, who joined Thrall as a coach builder in February 2001, said: "I would be over the moon if the site opened back up. I would definitely try and get a job back there."

Updated: 11:14 Thursday, September 18, 2003