Another call for Midlands Hub investment

THERE have been further calls for investment of up to £2bn in the Midlands Rail Hub, this time from Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon.

During August, Mr McMahon visited Birmingham Moor Street, which could handle a further 10 trains per hour as part of wider upgrades to track and signalling – including the reopening of the Camp Hill Line with new stations. He also praised the work in the Metro extensions east and west of Birmingham city centre.

There are plans to increase service frequency and reduce journey times to and from Birmingham from across the Midlands – for example, cutting the LeicesterBirmingham time from 55 to 40 mins for the 39-mile journey. There would be similar journey time cuts to services from Nottingham and Hereford, and shorter reductions from other towns and cities.

Within the plan, a new direct service from Coventry to Nottingham is proposed. However, the issue of whether to call at or bypass Nuneaton still needs to be resolved to achieve a target journey time of 70 minutes and win users from road.

Commented Mr McMahon: “It’s abundantly clear that in this climate emergency, we need to take bold steps to change the way we live, work and travel. The Midlands Rail Hub is an absolute no-brainer – it will get more people and parcels off our roads onto our railways and create space for faster, more frequent train journeys across the Midlands and beyond.

“At a time where we’re looking to boost public transport use, this scheme must go ahead, it’s crucial for the region’s future.”