Fund launched to safeguard future of Great Central Railway (Nottingham)
A NEW fund to help raise £5 million to reopen the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and develop it as one of its county’s leading heritage attractions has been launched.
The Forward Fund aims to provide new visitor facilities, including a new station building at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre in Ruddington.
It will also raise money to upgrade tracks and bridges on the nine-mile GCR(N), including the complete overhaul of Bridge 326, which carries it over the A60 road on the outskirts of Loughborough.
Last September the Office of Rail and Road ordered all rail traffic over the bridge to be halted because of its poor state of repair, meaning that freight trains serving the British Gypsum plant at East Leake have had to be stopped.
When the new bridge is installed they will restart, taking lorries off the road and ensuring the heritage line can serve the community.
Future potential
Bridge 307 over Bunny Lane at East Leake is also currently closed to rail traffic and requires a detailed structural investigation to establish what needs to be done to bring it back up to operational standard, while Bridge 312 at East Leake station is also said to be in need of work in the near future.
Ruth Edwards, the MP for Rushcliffe, who is also patron of the East Midlands Railway Trust, a registered charity and owner of the GCR(N) and the centre, was invited as guest of honour for the launch of The Forward Fund at Ruddington on July 9.
East Midlands Railway Trust chairman David Rae said: “The GCR and the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre have great potential as a heritage and leisure amenity for the area, but too few people know about them.
“The 125-year-old railway line was starved of investment from the 1960s and needs major renewals. The area is seeing major housebuilding and development from East Leake north past the Fairham development on Gotham Moor, and new homes around Ruddington. We aim to rise to the challenge and offer people in this busy area a great experience at the heritage centre and in future on the rail line. There is a once-only opportunity to make this happen, and close partnerships with the councils and communities along the route are essential.”
Reunification
The GCR(N) will ultimately be reconnected with the GCR, creating an 18-mile heritage railway linking the outskirts of Nottingham and Leicester. The separate Reunification project is raising money to provide new infrastructure taking the GCR at Loughborough Central to the new bridge which has been installed over the Midland Main Line. Following the success of its ‘Money Match March’ appeal, which raised nearly £300,000 in a month, it now has a third of the finance to build the ‘Factory Flyover’ to carry the line past industrial premises to the new bridge.
David said: “To be ‘Reunification Ready,’ the northern section needs major investment to keep its massive viaducts, bridges and tunnel in good order. The Forward Fund is a key part of the plan to achieve this; the A60 bridge work is the first stage.”
He said it was planned to raise the £5 million from a variety of funding sources, with The Forward Fund making a major contribution.