Yesterday, in Leicester, City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby joined Midlands Connect and business leaders to pledge their support for the proposed rail link between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham. At the meeting, at the station, attendees were told that 13.5 million minutes could be saved by people travelling by train on the route.
Last week, Midlands Connect submitted a business case to government asking for support to progress the project. New analysis shows that if the link between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham is delivered an additional 600,000 trips per year will be taken by rail.
At the moment, only 3% of people who travel between Coventry and Leicester travel are using rail, with the vast majority going by road, even though it’s only just over 20 miles as the crow flies. Travelling via train could become a more attractive option, with journey times from Coventry to Nottingham being cut by almost one hour under the proposals, reducing travel time from 117 to 65 minutes. Those travelling from Coventry to Leicester will also see a reduction in travel time, changing from 56 to 32 minutes.
Extra services will also stop at Coventry Arena, Bedworth, Bermuda Park, Hinckley and Loughborough as part of the plans.
The scheme will also massively deliver for businesses by boosting capacity for additional or re-routed freight services between Southampton, the Midlands, and Northern England which could add a further £280 million plus of benefits from the removal of Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) kms.
The project could create £400m overall benefits including almost £150m wider economic benefits for the region. Due to a more accurate understanding of how people shift from road to rail, the benefits are much higher than the previous business case submission in 2021. The scheme will also deliver for businesses by providing capacity for additional or re-routed freight services between Southampton, the Midlands, and Northern England which could add over £200 million plus of benefits from the removal of Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) kms.
At the meeting Sir Peter and Midlands Connect were joined by East Midlands Chamber, East Midlands Railway and Cross Country.
Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor of Leicester said:
“‘Coventry and Leicester are the two biggest cities without a direct rail link, with only 3% of journeys between them made by rail. This crucial scheme will reconnect them and directly help travellers and the local economies of Coventry Leicester and Nottingham. The increased rail freight capacity will remove HGVs from the highway network, reducing carbon and improving air quality.”
Andy Clark, Head of Rail at Midlands Connect said:
“In the early 2000s, direct rail links between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham were severed to make room for improvements along the West Coast Main Line, which required additional trains running through Nuneaton to the North West and Scotland.
“Midlands Connect is keen to progress the project and we’ve submitted a business case last week to government. Our new figures show that we could save millions of minutes and create hundreds of thousands of new trips – this project will make a massive difference.”
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