Leicester to London in just 60 minutes with £500m plan to electrify the Midland Mainline
The Government is today expected to announce it will electrify the Midland Mainline – which would put Leicester less than an hour away from London by train.
The £500 million project to electrify the line from Bedford to Sheffield is understood to be part of a £9 billion national package of rail improvements, set to be unveiled.
-
Leicester could be less than an hour away from London by train when the Midland Mainline is electrified
Campaigners who have fought for years for the electrification of the route say it will lead to faster trains, more local jobs and massive investment in the county, as well as being better for the environment.
"This brings lots of benefits and there is no downside," said Nick Rushton, acting leader of Leicestershire County Council.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
"It will mean cleaner, faster and more reliable trains with new rolling stock and Leicester will start to see the benefits Market Harborough currently has from being within an hour of the capital."
He said he expected more people with London jobs to move into Leicestershire, boosting the economy and pushing house prices up.
"We don't know whether there will also be improvements to the platforms in Leicestershire, but there is bound to be more Government investment,'' he said.
Martin Traynor, managing director of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said businesses and the job market would benefit.
"This is excellent news," he said. "The opportunity to reduce the journey time between Leicester and London to under one hour will give us a huge strategic advantage.
"It will increase leisure and tourism and inward investment. This could bring thousands of new jobs."
The expected announcement would mean the current fleet of diesel trains being replaced with electric ones with overhead wires extended along the rest of the line. It would reduce journey times from Leicester to London from 70 minutes to less than an hour.
It has not yet been revealed when the work will start or when it will be completed.
Leicester's deputy city mayor, Rory Palmer, said: "This is great news for Leicester. We have been campaigning alongside MPs and businesses, making the case for this investment. Electrification will improve journey times to London and to the north. It will create jobs and will be an important boost to our economy."
Terry Kirby, chairman of the Leicestershire branch of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "It's about 15 years too late, in my opinion.
"The benefits of electrification is that the trains will be less polluting and will be able to brake and accelerate more rapidly, making journey times quicker. With trains completing their journeys faster you can get more services on the same amount of track."
The only bad news, he said, was that the massive project will probably take several years to complete.
John Forrest, 72, from Hinckley, who regularly travels north on the Midland Mainline, said: "It should make a big difference and be a good thing, as long as it doesn't mean they charge a premium.
"They've been talking about doing this for a long time and I thought it would have happened sooner, but any progress is good."
David Morgan, 40, of Stoneygate, Leicester, said: "It sounds good. If it's quicker and it's cleaner it can't be bad.''
Comments
by City_C10
Monday, July 16 2012, 4:26PM
“Title: Leicester to London in just 60 minutes -
First line: "...which would put Leicester less than an hour away from London by train."
How is 60 minutes less than 1 hour?”
by bimple
Monday, July 16 2012, 4:09PM
“"Bring back steam trains which the tracks were designed for."
The only tracks still remaining which were designed for steam trains are the ones in the disused sidings which litter the route to London. Some of these will, indeed, date from pre-1968 and will be bullhead tracks. However, any track you actually ride on to London will bear no resemblence to ANYTHING steam ran on under BR or the Big Four.”
by FOXFAN99
Monday, July 16 2012, 3:41PM
“Lizz Lee, whilst I agree the last train from Leicester heading south is quite early (2159 from Leicester) and the last northbound train on a Saturday night from London is at 2225, again quite early but the latter is due to engineering works which are normally carried out overnight. However during the week it is possible to catch a train from London back to Leicester as late as 0015 so even on a Friday night it is possible to see a show and return the same night.
As for your comments on fares, they are at their highest in the peaks, but the vast majority are full at those times, the cheaper "Advance" fares are only there to fill up spare capacity and on the morning and evening peak trains there isnt any apart from the odd exception.
The only way to get signifcantly reduced journey times would be to introduce a fleet of tilting trains such as the Pendolino as used on the West Coast Main Line, however I doubt the route will receive new trains, I would imagine we will get the electric trains that are currently in use on the East Coast Main Line between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh, plus I can see the Thameslink route (Bedford to Brighton etc) being extended north to serve Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby.”
by f007e
Monday, July 16 2012, 1:02PM
“crasherkid36, that's because it's far more efficient to generate energy centrally and distribute it, than have each vehicle (be that a train or a car) generate its own energy.”
by City_C10
Monday, July 16 2012, 12:57PM
“I feel it depends on the job market, otherwise why would you need a faster train to anywhere? There are many pros and cons here - Such as cost, environment issues, time etc. Right now I am 50/50 on the idea.”
by crasherkid36
Monday, July 16 2012, 12:39PM
“I have no idea how they can say changing from Diesel to electric can be green...
Most of UKs electric comes from fossil fuels
In the year 2007 the percentage of primary energy derived from major sources was as follows:[2]
Oil: 38.0%
Natural gas: 37.7%
Coal: 16.7%
Nuclear power: 5.8%
Renewable: 1.8%.”
by burnmw1987
Monday, July 16 2012, 12:37PM
“Having just agreed with KarinFall on another article I've now got to disagree, time saved travelling to and from the office can be put to good use elsewhere, it's not just about being able to get there quicker/spend more time working. That time saved could be spent with your kids, relaxing etc.
I do agree though that 10minutes is hardly going to make a difference is it? And I certainly can't see "people with London jobs" thinking, "Wowee, it will only take 60minutes to get to the office rather than 70 if I move to Leicester..."
As for "'This brings lots of benefits and there is no downside,' said Nick Rushton", no downside? I guess the £500m spend is a good thing as well then? We clearly have £500m that we need to get rid of/burn in a hurry.”
by vanip
Monday, July 16 2012, 12:21PM
“I agree with oldhenry prices will by sky high”
by Banksider33
Monday, July 16 2012, 11:40AM
“I cant believe how crass some of these comments are.
Maglev is expensive, and a massive waste of energy and not green. If it was that good we'd have a network of them.
Yes, Lizzie Lee is right in so much as we need more late night services but people must use them.
And as for Old Henry, yes mate, you really are doing a Jethro Tull and Living in the Past. The fastest steam service from Leicester to London was 100 minutes. And in acutual fact, East Midlands Trains and Network Rail has been conducting tests on the existing track at 125mph, so we may not need to build a new line like the French.
Mind you, given the nimbyism over HS2, a proposal for a new line from Leicester to London would never happen.
You have to accept change - both good and bad.”
by oldhenry
Monday, July 16 2012, 11:31AM
“It is a non-story by government to try and boost their flagging 'popularity'.
The price of the new fares will be beyond all but bankers to pay for this, you do realise?
The fact is, as someone has said, the whole system to not fit for 21st century travel. Bring back steam trains which the tracks were designed for.
You need to start again for the trains that the French use, are we to carry on being the laughing stock of Europe for trains? I believe that to be so.”