Plans for a new £8 million headquarters for York-based rail maintenance firm Jarvis Rail, on land next to Hudson House, York, have been lodged with City of York Council.

If approved, 350 Jarvis Rail employees will move to the new HQ from various offices, mostly in Hudson House - bringing under one roof in York the administration for maintaining and renewing 4,500 miles of track, signalling and other structures on the Railtrack network.

An alternative location in Leeds was rejected by the company in favour of what it describes as a modern landmark and "a commitment to York."

The site, diagonally opposite York Railway Station, consists of brick and timber buildings built in the last century and used for storage of railway furniture.

About 100 jobs would be created during construction of the building which has been designed by architects Crampin Pring McArtney, with Buro Happold as consulting engineers. If approved it will be completed late in 1999 in time for a pre-Millennium move.

Peter Henshaw, Jarvis Rail's estates manager has already led discussions with English Heritage, the Royal Fine Arts Commission and the City of York Council's planners and archaeologists.

He said: "Because the chosen location is within city walls, we want to ensure that we create a modern landmark in keeping with the city's heritage of outstanding architecture.

"We expect to draw heavily on expert guidance from the council and other professionals to achieve that."

Rob Johnson, Jarvis Rail's commercial director said that York was a recognised railway centre but the decision to keep core management teams in the city was driven by the desire to stay close to its principal customer, Railtrack.

"The effectiveness of being located on the East Coast main line and the wish to limit disruption to our staff were important additional factors.

"Leeds was a strong contender as an alternative location, offering excellent motorway access and being slightly more central to our core activity.

"However, York has been very supportive of our plans and a successful new build scheme will provide us with a long-term base for our UK operations."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.