Jobs boost in improvement to rail services

MORE than 700 jobs could be created by a huge infrastructure project which is aiming to improve rail services across the Midlands.

New figures released by transport body Midlands Connect this week showed that 2,880 jobs would be safeguarded by the delivery of Midlands Engine Rail and a further 720 new jobs created.

The Midlands Engine Rail programme aims to increase capacity on the region’s railways and provide faster, more frequent services to passengers.

Composed of seven schemes, it would deliver 736 extra passenger services a day and benefit more than 60 stations across the UK.

The project includes the flagship Midlands Rail Hub and Birmingham Airport Connectivity – a scheme to enhance national rail connectivity to Coventry and Birmingham International stations. There are also plans for improvements on the Nottingham-newark-lincoln line and the reintroduction of direct rail links between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham.

In total, Midlands Engine Rail would add 30 million passenger seats on the railway each year.

It is claimed the project would also create space for more than a million lorries’ worth of cargo to be transported on the railways each year, rather than by road – helping to reduce CO2 by 78 per cent.

Midlands Connect chief Sir John Peace said: “Midlands Connect is working in partnership with the Government to deliver a transport network fit for the future and to build back better after Covid.”