Midlands Connect launches £3.5bn rail scheme

A £3.5 billion plan to revolutionise the region’s rail network is set to launch today.

In a move designed to boost productivity, social mobility and economic growth across the East and West Midlands, Midlands Connect will deliver Midlands Engine Rail, an extensive improvement programme which could see 736 more passenger trains on the network each day.

Comprised of seven projects spanning the East and West Midlands, Midlands Engine Rail will include and build upon the flagship Midlands Rail Hub scheme that was submitted to government in June 2019.

Nottingham, Loughborough, Lincoln, Leicester and Derby – where Communities Secretary RT Hon. Robert Jenrick MP is visiting today to accompany the launch – could all reap substantial benefits from the scheme.

Midlands Engine Rail will be delivered in stages from 2022 to the completion of HS2 Phase Two. It is fully integrated with HS2 and includes plans for two new conventional-compatible services that will directly link Nottingham and Leicester city centres to the new high speed network.

Civic and business leaders are now calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to back the scheme, fund the next stage of its development (£45.5 million over the next three years), and to display the same enthusiasm for infrastructure investment in the Midlands as he has in the North.

Midlands Engine Rail Map

Sir John Peace, chair of Midlands Connect and Midlands Engine, said: “In the Midlands, more people are travelling on the railways than ever before. We now need investment from Government to allow our people, businesses and infrastructure to reach their full potential, and to drive a further boost in passenger numbers. Midlands Engine Rail is essential in creating a more sustainable, productive and mobile Midlands.

“Whether they live in Shrewsbury, Lincoln, Birmingham or Leicester, our communities deserve the opportunity to make greener choices, to access a world-class education and to reach the widest possible variety of career opportunities. We must create a transport network that helps our businesses to grow, not holds them back.

“My message to the Prime Minister is clear; it’s time you made a long-overdue commitment to the future of our rail network. Ten million Midlanders are counting on you; invest in their futures, turn our vision into reality, back Midlands Engine Rail.”

Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, added: “The Midlands’ importance, its needs and its huge potential cannot be ignored by this Government. Decades of underinvestment in our rail network has held back progress and stifled productivity – Midlands Engine Rail is comprehensive, ambitious and represents fantastic value for money. We must move these plans forward as quickly as possible to get people out of their cars and onto the railways and to provide the enhanced connectivity the East Midlands needs to thrive.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close