Midlands Connect mantra: “Fix the Midlands, fix the nation”

SPEEDING up regional rail journeys and preparing the network so that the Midlands is ready to unlock the full economic potential of HS2 are core aims of Midlands Connect’s new Strategic Transport Plan.

Five years since the transport body’s first plan, it builds on the original strategy rather than replacing it. It also reflects the change to the eastern leg of HS2, which now goes to East Midlands Parkway rather than Toton.

Covering all modes, the plan’s many ‘big ticket’ projects include rail, where the priority is faster and more frequent services on secondary routes by selecting schemes that are deliverable within a reasonable cost during the next five years.

Midlands Connect’s rail priorities are:

■ A direct Coventry-LeicesterNottingham service.

■ ‘Early win’ journey time improvements on several corridors.

■ Acceleration of capacity schemes at Kings Norton and Snow Hill.

■ Develop business cases for large infrastructure investment projects.

■ Improving connectivity to the North, feeding into Government’s consultation on the future of HS2’s eastern leg from the East Midlands to Leeds.

Covering the central belt of England and sandwiched between ‘the North’, Wales and South Midlands/South West, Midlands Connect is one of England’s six sub-national transport bodies.

Midlands Connect has a clear directive from Government: to research, develop and recommend the most important transport investments - the projects needed to support a more productive, prosperous and sustainable Midlands.

“Fix the Midlands, fix the nation,” the organisation says.

“If rail is to be a genuine option ahead of road and play a strong role in decarbonising transport, it has to offer a far better service than it does today,” said Midlands Connect CEO Maria Machancoses.

The next step will be to deliver a Business Case for Midlands Engine Rail (MER, a strategic core of inter-regional routes) by spring 2023. This will include a delivery

plan aiming for a first package of improvements to be in place when HS2 reaches Birmingham in 2029.

This year will also feature an improvement plan to support strategic freight movements in the region. A regional Transport Technology Route Map and a Technology Action Plan will be published in the autumn.

While local authorities determine the detail of local schemes, Midlands Connect takes the lead on bigger projects, such as a region-wide ‘tap and cap’ smart ticketing for passengers using rail, buses, trams and cycle hire across the Midlands.

Setting out its rail priorities, all of them enhancements to the existing network, MC says it is aiming

for “quick wins and enablers for longer-term aspirations”.

Machancoses added: “We share the Government’s aspiration to accelerate the delivery of the transport infrastructure that the country needs. But we also recognise that we are in challenging times when it comes to public finances.

“We have therefore worked hard to focus on what we believe is a proportionate programme of the most urgent priorities - parts of our strategic network that are most in need of investment in the next five to ten years.

“The package of rail and road investments complement each other to deliver on the grand challenges identified in this plan.”