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Midland Main Line The franchise for the Midland Main Line has gone to National Express which has already announced plans for a parkway station north of Loughborough, from which they would provide a coach link to East Midlands Airport. The company has refused to reveal the location so it is too early to say whether demands of local people for a station in the Kegworth and Sutton Bonington area will be satisfied.
Mind the gap The branch will be pressing National Express for improvements in the service pattern. Although trains leave St Pancras half-hourly on weekdays, there are gaps of three hours or more between trains providing services such as Loughborough-Derby or Bedford-Kettering.
Rough ride The branch has also written to Railtrack about the deteriorating quality of ride. This follows an earlier complaint to management, who said it was a problem with track rather than rolling-stock.
Channel tunnel freightBuilding work has started for the Daventry freight terminal, near Long Buckby. A more ambitious proposal has come from Central Railway which plans to rebuild the Great Central Railway as far as Leicester, with a massive freight terminal near Lutterworth. The original GCR was built to continental loading gauge nearly 100 years ago in anticipation of providing through services to a Channel Tunnel! The East Midlands branch welcomes the transfer of international freight from road to rail, but is concerned that large numbers of lorries could be travelling by road to and from these terminals. Freight should be carried much nearer to its final destination by rail.
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