Friday, May 28, 2021

Trains between Leicester and Coventry to return after 20 years?

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The Leicester Mercury reports:

Plans to revive direct trains between Leicester and Coventry and Nottingham for the first time in 20 years have been hailed a 'once in a generation' opportunity.'

Midlands Connect want to bring back the direct rail links to improve current connections which Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby calls 'appalling.'

As it stands, the train journey from Coventry to Leicester takes close to an hour despite the cities being so close.

New plans would introduce two new trains each hour which would also call at Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway and Nottingham, made possible by a new 'dive under' at Nuneaton.

You can download Midlands Connect's report from its website.

I have always mourned the loss of this service. It provided useful connection at Coventry to Oxford, Reading and the South.

And some of my earliest visits to Shropshire went via this route too. In those days you could pick up the Euston to Shrewsbury service at Coventry, which removed the need to change at Birmingham New Street.

2 comments:

Tom Barney said...

And now with the reopened station at Kenilworth.

Phil Beesley said...

With all this Leicester railway stuff going on -- Ivanhoe line, Leicester to Coventry, Station Street demolition -- which are Soulsby's priority? And which will make a difference?