East Midlands Trains calls for £300m investment in region

A new report from East Midlands Trains has set out £300m worth of proposals for faster and more frequent services between Derby and London, additional carriages for greater capacity, and improved Wi-Fi facilities.

The report East Midlands: A Railway for Growth was launched by East Midlands Trains managing director, Jake Kelly, at the Rail Forum East Midlands’ annual conference, held at the iPro Stadium.

While Kelly described the plans as “ambitious”, he stressed the ongoing commitment of East Midlands Trains to investment in its rolling stock, people and services.

He said: “If we are to build on the big progress made in recent years, we need to take action to ensure communities and the economy in the East Midlands benefit from further improvements and we don’t lose out to other regions.”

The key priorities require approval by the Department for Transport and in attendance at the conference was the UK’s new rail minister, Paul Maynard, who said the Government would take on board the report’s recommendations and was already developing plans for the next East Midlands franchise due to start in 2018.

Sir John Peace, chairman of the Midlands Engine and Midlands Connect, helped launch the report at the conference. He said: “There is clearly a need now for more and faster trains for the East Midlands and the proposals contained in this report take a sensible and pragmatic approach to achieving that.”