A growing market for rail travel in the East Midlands
Recent letters have rightly criticised the inadequate capacity of three-car (let alone two-car) Class 170 sets on the Birmingham-Stansted route. A case for cascaded five-car Class 222s from EMR in a couple of years’ time, perhaps?
It is also worth noting that the last train out of Birmingham is at 2024 (weekdays) and 2022 (Saturday/Sunday). Residents of Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Stamford cannot therefore attend by train any evening venues in England’s second city if they wish to return home the same day. A 22xx service - perhaps terminating at Peterborough - would provide a useful service.
There is currently just one direct EMR train per day, in the morning, from Corby to Nottingham and no corresponding return journey.
This ignores a potentially huge market, given the significant amount of recent residential development in both Oakham and Melton, as well as the number of residents of both towns who work in Nottingham and/or attend events, shop or socialise there.
The density of road traffic in Nottingham is appalling. With the imminent introduction of the Corby electrics, EMR could run an hourly Nottingham-Corby service, providing for Melton and Oakham both a direct link to Nottingham and a more convenient and direct route to London than the current choice via Peterborough or Leicester.
Almost everyone in Oakham, and a considerable proportion of Melton residents, lives within walking distance of the railway station. I am certain that a better level of service, with adequate seating and routes that meet all needs, would result in an upsurge in usage that would more than meet the costs of providing these improvements.
The line from Leicester to
Peterborough is in excellent condition and is well-maintained. It carries increasing numbers of heavy freight trains from East Anglian seaports to the West Midlands, but there is capacity.
Moreover, the splendid line from Manton Junction to Corby, over the Harringworth Viaduct, is greatly underused.
Andrew Bennett, Oakham