Can a regional rail hub put the Midlands Engine on track?
PROPOSALS for using improved rail services to unlock growth potential and create new jobs throughout the Midlands Engine area have been welcomed by transport chiefs.
The Midlands Connect partnership said it was happy to give its backing to Network Rail’s West Midlands and Chilterns Route Study.
The study outlines to government the capacity challenges and potential short-term (to 2024) and longer-term (to 2043) options to improve future passenger and freight services across the region.
One option proposed is a ‘Midlands Rail Hub’ to address the rail network’s main bottleneck in central Birmingham to improve rail links across the wider Midlands.
It also promotes improved rail links to the East Midlands economic centres of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
The study sets out options for infrastructure improvements between Coventry and Leamington Spa to enable improved direct national rail access to Birmingham Airport and Coventry from cities such as Oxford, Reading, Derby, Leeds, York and Newcastle.
Maria Machancoses, Midlands Connect programme director, said she was pleased to see the study acknowledged Midland Connect’s work with Network Rail in targeting stronger transport infrastructure to make sure the region was ready for the arrival of HS2.
“As the heart of the UK economy, our links with the rest of the country and internationally are vital,” she said.
“That’s why we particularly welcome the study’s Midlands Rail Hub concept which we view as the first piece in the jigsaw of increasing rail capacity across the Midlands.
“We believe development of this important programme should start as soon as possible.”
She said the proposals within the route study were consistent with the Midlands Connect agenda for supporting economic growth across the region and its role at the heart of the UK economy.
She said the report also recognised the Midlands Connect agenda for improving rail links between the East and West Midlands, particularly Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.
“I am pleased the route study recognises this and provides options to enable improved direct rail access to Birmingham Airport from the Thames Valley, Yorkshire and the North East,” she added.
“We will continue to work very closely with Network Rail and government to understand how this can be driven forwards.”
Midlands Connect is a collaboration of 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships, Network Rail, Highways England, HS2 Ltd, 28 local authorities and the business community. The Department for Transport is an associate member.
Operating as the transport component powering the Midlands Engine – the partnership will publish its strategy in March 2017.
It will set out the infrastructure and other measures needed to speed up journeys in the Midlands, unlocking £1bn a year of extra economic growth and 300,000 new jobs.
