Railwatch 076 - July 1998

East Midlands

By Anthony Kay

Railtrack plans An audience of more than 80 packed the City Rooms in Leicester on 14 March to hear Roger Jones, development planning manager for Railtrack, speak about Rail Development in the Midlands - the Next Ten Years at the branch AGM. Following an overview of Railtrack's financial arrangements and responsibilities, he described several schemes for improvement of the rail infrastructure in the East Midlands, including:

• Installation of crossovers in Leicester station, to allow two trains access to each of platforms two and three at the same time. There are also schemes to increase capacity at Nottingham and Derby stations.
• Other capacity improvements on the Midland main line, including remodelling Wigston Junction and possibly some track reinstatement, for example south of Kettering. EWS may require this for their projected freight services on the line.
• Reinstating the line from Kettering to Manton Junction for both passenger and freight use. The line will be single track south of Corby, but double from Corby to Manton.
• Resignalling Peterborough-Nuneaton, the first scheme in Britain using a new axle counter technology. This will enable the line to become the main route for freight from Felixstowe and Harwich to the Midlands and North.

Relying on trains Several rail improvements are suggested in the new transport policy for Leicester and central Leicestershire which has been produced jointly by the city and county councils. As a way of providing alternatives to the car, it calls for increased frequencies on local rail services, with a target of 15-minute interval services. It also urges completion of the Ivanhoe Line from Leicester to Burton-on-Trent. Also suggested are high-quality cycle parking facilities at transport interchanges, a high-frequency bus service between the railway and bus stations in Leicester (they are on opposite sides of the city centre) and improved pedestrian access to Leicester station.

More delays in Corby The town is no nearer getting its railway station, following a planning inspector's refusal of permission for a factory outlet development in which the developers had proposed to include a station. The station would have been well-placed with respect to nearby housing estates and shopping facilities.

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