YORK'S status as a first class destination was confirmed today. Europe's best museum, the NRM, is to invite the world back to our place to celebrate the 200th birthday of the train.

Rides, demonstrations, films, a vintage fair - the National Railway Museum extravaganza will make spring half-term 2004 a never-to-be-forgotten family holiday.

Many organisations will have eyed the bicentenary of the train as a platform for special events. But the museum's bosses reached out and claimed it as their own. Behind the fanfare of the launch lies much creative thought, hard work and planning.

This excellent news breaks only days after we reported that Royal Ascot 2005 might be staged in York. As the feature on this page explains, this idea is a runner, if not an odds-on certainty.

On the surface, a race meeting and a railway festival are very different. In fact, they have much in common. Both would bring thousands of extra visitors to York, enhance the city's profile and inject millions of pounds into our economy. Moreover, each spectacle can be enjoyed by local residents as much as by tourists.

These two stories also undermine claims that the recent resurgence of Leeds has diminished York's stature. By contrast, our city is growing in importance. And that is down to two factors: confidence and partnership.

Ten years ago York, hit by convulsions in the manufacturing sector, was not looking to the future but nervously awaiting its fate.

The multi-agency effort to overcome the loss of the ABB carriageworks was the moment when the city reclaimed the initiative and rekindled its self-esteem. That process brought about the Ecofin summit, five years ago.

The knowledge gleaned from Ecofin will no doubt be applied to the railway celebration and to Ascot, if it comes.

A key lesson has already been learned: we should play to our strengths. The racecourse and the railway museum are two magnificent assets. Now their respective leaders, working with many city partners, are helping to drive York forward.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, April 03, 2003