Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
davieG

LEICESTER IS THE WORST-CONNECTED BIG CITY BY RAIL IN BRITAIN

Recommended Posts

Leicester is the worst-connected big city in Britain in terms of rail links. 

Research by The Independent shows that the East Midlands city has a narrower range of train services than a village in Cornwall.

Each of the 12 largest cities outside London was evaluated on four criteria.


First, from that city how many of the other 11 are served by regular direct rail links?

Next, the number of fast train departures each hour from the city to London.

Whether there is direct access from the city’s main rail station to a tram or metro network?

And whether there is a connection to the nearest airport? One point was awarded for a train, metro or tram, and half for a bus link.

While Leicester has three nonstop trains an hour to London, to major cities outside the capital it has regular direct links only to Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield. There are three daily trains to Leeds, but they are of little use to travellers as the first does not leave until shortly before 8pm.

The city is on the East Midlands line from London St Pancras to South Yorkshire, but has long lost its wider connections.


Leicester was, ironically, the original headquarters for the pioneer of organised rail travel, Thomas Cook. A statue of the founder of the tourism empire stands adjacent to the city’s station.

Nicky Gardner, co-author of Europe by Rail, said: “Prior to the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, Leicester had multiple direct daily trains to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.

“The downgrading of the Midland main line curbed Leicester’s connectivity, with the closure of the Great Central further depleting the departure lists.”

Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “Rail links are an essential element of the regional transport infrastructure.

“As major contributors to the UK economy, and being located in the heart of the country, Leicester needs and deserves the best possible transport links.

“By the government’s own figures, for many years the east midlands has received only 60 per cent of the national average per head when it comes to infrastructure investment.

“This has to change if Leicester and the wider region is to realise its fantastic potential.“

Read more
 

The small Cornish village of Par now has better connections than Leicester – even though it has only one-200th of the population.

Passengers from Par, a small station inland from Fowey, enjoy hourly fast services to London and direct connections to seven of the 12 biggest cities outside the capital. A sleeper train runs six nights a week to Paddington.

Cardiff is the second-worst connected big city in Britain. It scores overall as badly as Leicester, but has more regular fast trains and direct links to a wider range of cities outside London: Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham.

In addition, a new train operator, Grand Union, plans an extra hourly service to London that would improve the showing for the Welsh capital.

Birmingham has by far the best links by rail of any city outside London, with direct connections from New Street station to all 11 of the other big cities (as well as Par in Cornwall).

It also has three Virgin Trains departures each hour to London Euston, in addition to half-hourly departures from Snow Hill to Marylebone station in the capital.

There are frequent trains to Birmingham International for the city’s airport, and the West Midlands Metro now stops outside New Street.


Manchester was some distance behind in second place. It also has three Virgin Trains each hour to London, though no connection with Leicester. But it earnt points for an airport link and access to the tram network.

Newcastle and Edinburgh share third place. The Scottish capital fared much better than Glasgow, in joint ninth place with Liverpool, because Edinburgh has more frequent trains to London, and immediate access at Haymarket station to the tram line – including a direct link to the airport.

Sheffield is fifth, with Bristol and Leeds sharing sixth position. Nottingham takes eighth place.

Liverpool and Glasgow can both claim that they should have scored more highly: a direct link between the two cities was due to start in 2018 but has yet to begin. 

The best connected station in London is St Pancras, which in the 1960s was a candidate for demolition.

Besides its original purpose as the terminus for the East Midlands main line, St Pancras also offers high-speed Southeastern services to Kent, Eurostar links to Paris, Brussels and the south of France, and Thameslink trains to Cambridge, Brighton and the airport stations for Gatwick and Luton.

When combined with King’s Cross, to which St Pancras is adjacent, the pair comprise by far the best rail hub in Britain.

The 12 cities and their scores
1. Birmingham (18)

2. Manchester (15)

3. = Edinburgh (12)

3. = Newcastle (12)

5. Sheffield (11)

6. = Bristol (10.5) 

6. = Leeds (10.5)

8. Nottingham (9.5)

9. = Liverpool (8.5)

9. = Glasgow (8.5)

11. Cardiff (6.5)

12. Leicester (6.5)

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/trains-cities-connections-leicester-birmingham-rail-best-worst-a9061091.html?amp&fbclid=IwAR2h2UEXXXUi8HumUeoR478X9xq5i6CNe_kRfV-Qze9l5Q-fjW-AXIT2L9A

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our city is the equivalent of a Chihuahua, yapping away at he bigger dogs. Small time mentality with near-London prices. 

 

I don't just mean putting more rains on to London is the answer. The city centre is a disgrace, so are half of the m0ngs in it. We can't even attract half decent shops unless it's a Pound Shop or a chicken shop. 

 

We have idiots in charge of this city who couldn't organise a pi$$ up in Everards. 

Edited by Mickey O'Neil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Mickey O'Neil said:

Our city is the equivalent of a Chihuahua, yapping away at he bigger dogs. Small time mentality with near-London prices. 

 

I don't just mean putting more rains on to London is the answer. The city centre is a disgrace, so are half of the ****** in it. We can't even attract half decent shops unless it's a Pound Shop or a chicken shop. 

 

We have idiots in charge of this city who couldn't organise a pi$$ up in Everards. 

Probably why no-one wants to come to Leicester, hence the lack of rail links

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Electrification of the midland mainline should have happened years ago. It's a joke they announced it, now scrapped part of it and are only electrifying up to about Kettering.

 

But it's not comparable to a station like Birmingham New St anyway. Stations like that have two mainlines in and out, Leicester will never have that. Plus Birmingham has a major International airport.

 

The scoring of tram line doesn't make sense though. Cities like Sheffield and Manchester have a good tram network (on top of buses and a rail network).

 

As a railway enthusiast I don't like knocking everything, always seem I do with the midland mainline though because pricing is a joke too. I can go from Sheffield to Manchester for £5-£7 yet Sheffield to Leicester costs me double that. Maybe because it is a mainline.

Edited by Fox92
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today is the last day of East Midlands Trains operation, East Midlands Railway starts tomorrow (owned by Dutch rail firm Abellio).although nothings going to change for a few years other than rebranded trains and new staff uniforms. All of the trains operating the London - Leicester - Notts - Sheffield mainline route will be replaced by new bi-mode trains (can run on diesel or overhead electric) in 2022. No chance of electrification of the midland mainline north of Kettering now for decades. 

Edited by The Syrup
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Electrification of the midland mainline should have happened years ago. It's a joke they announced it, now scrapped part of it and are only electrifying up to about Kettering.

 

But it's not comparable to a station like Birmingham New St anyway. Stations like that have two mainlines in and out, Leicester will never have that. Plus Birmingham has a major International airport.

 

The scoring of tram line doesn't make sense though. Cities like Sheffield and Manchester have a good tram network (on top of buses and a rail network).

 

As a railway enthusiast I don't like knocking everything, always seem I do with the midland mainline though because pricing is a joke too. I can go from Sheffield to Manchester for £5-£7 yet Sheffield to Leicester costs me double that. Maybe because it is a mainline.

Electrification was altered to go as far as Market Harborough because they found the electrical supply needed is to get to Kettering is  between Kettering and Harborough. 

 

We have no rail connection to EMA yet the HS2 is going to pass underneath it Surely this is the chance to properly connect the 3 big East Midlands teams to HS2 and EMA

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leicester's rail services, in fact the whole of the East Midlands, have been a disgrace for decades.

Failure to electrify the Midland Main Line makes no sense at all, considering that it already has electric suburban services out from St Pancras to Bedford, half way to Leicester. Bi-mode is rubbish. It means a motive power unit which is not quite as powerful and therefore slower than either a electric-only or diesel-only train the same weight. Effectively it means that on a run from St Pancras to Sheffield expensive diesel plant is only used for half the journey and on the electric half is so much dead weight.

Norwich, a third the size of Leicester and about the same distance from London, got electric trains in the mid 1990s. It also still has branch lines radiating out to smaller towns and villages around Norfolk, although some of the trains on them are pretty pre-historic.

Rail strategy, such as it is, should not be wholly focused on the speed and frequency of trains to London. Leicester would benefit more from faster and more regular services to all cities in the Midlands and the North potentially within an hour's reach.

And, although rush hour traffic in Leicester is nowhere near as bad as terminally gridlocked Bristol and Bath, it does need a rapid transport network, probably centred around the corridor provided by the former Great Central Railway but linking to St Margarets and London Road railway station.

I live about 120 miles from Leicester by the shortest road route. Normally a drive takes a not outstandingly quick 3 hours, because it usually takes at least an hour to trundle along behind a succession of tractors, caravans and motor caravans along the network of mildly upgraded cart tracks which pass for roads in most of Somerset to the nearest decent road.

I am temporarily unable to drive because of an injury. When I next make the journey in a few days time it will take over six hours by bus. I considered bus and train but since it only takes an hour less paying twice the price does not really seem worthwhile.

I just looked at Rome2Rio and in the six hours it will take to get to Leicester I could also get to ... Paris!!! 

 

Just seen DavieG's comment on the electric power supply. Can't we have a new power station to replace the coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe on Soar which will be closing in a few years. This would then justify extending the wires to Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, The Fox Covert said:

 

Just seen DavieG's comment on the electric power supply. Can't we have a new power station to replace the coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe on Soar which will be closing in a few years. This would then justify extending the wires to Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.

As DavieG said, overhead wires are being extended to Market Harborough as their is a connection point to the National Grid just south of the town. Location of a power station near Nottingham would have no bearing of electrification. This national grid connection point is only needed for the new bi-mode trains, and not the electric services that will run to Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough, which will start next year 

Edited by The Syrup
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, davieG said:

Leicester is the worst-connected big city in Britain in terms of rail links. 

Research by The Independent shows that the East Midlands city has a narrower range of train services than a village in Cornwall.

Each of the 12 largest cities outside London was evaluated on four criteria.


First, from that city how many of the other 11 are served by regular direct rail links?

Next, the number of fast train departures each hour from the city to London.

Whether there is direct access from the city’s main rail station to a tram or metro network?

And whether there is a connection to the nearest airport? One point was awarded for a train, metro or tram, and half for a bus link.

While Leicester has three nonstop trains an hour to London, to major cities outside the capital it has regular direct links only to Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield. There are three daily trains to Leeds, but they are of little use to travellers as the first does not leave until shortly before 8pm.

The city is on the East Midlands line from London St Pancras to South Yorkshire, but has long lost its wider connections.


Leicester was, ironically, the original headquarters for the pioneer of organised rail travel, Thomas Cook. A statue of the founder of the tourism empire stands adjacent to the city’s station.

Nicky Gardner, co-author of Europe by Rail, said: “Prior to the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, Leicester had multiple direct daily trains to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.

“The downgrading of the Midland main line curbed Leicester’s connectivity, with the closure of the Great Central further depleting the departure lists.”

Scott Knowles, chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “Rail links are an essential element of the regional transport infrastructure.

“As major contributors to the UK economy, and being located in the heart of the country, Leicester needs and deserves the best possible transport links.

“By the government’s own figures, for many years the east midlands has received only 60 per cent of the national average per head when it comes to infrastructure investment.

“This has to change if Leicester and the wider region is to realise its fantastic potential.“

Read more
 

The small Cornish village of Par now has better connections than Leicester – even though it has only one-200th of the population.

Passengers from Par, a small station inland from Fowey, enjoy hourly fast services to London and direct connections to seven of the 12 biggest cities outside the capital. A sleeper train runs six nights a week to Paddington.

Cardiff is the second-worst connected big city in Britain. It scores overall as badly as Leicester, but has more regular fast trains and direct links to a wider range of cities outside London: Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham.

In addition, a new train operator, Grand Union, plans an extra hourly service to London that would improve the showing for the Welsh capital.

Birmingham has by far the best links by rail of any city outside London, with direct connections from New Street station to all 11 of the other big cities (as well as Par in Cornwall).

It also has three Virgin Trains departures each hour to London Euston, in addition to half-hourly departures from Snow Hill to Marylebone station in the capital.

There are frequent trains to Birmingham International for the city’s airport, and the West Midlands Metro now stops outside New Street.


Manchester was some distance behind in second place. It also has three Virgin Trains each hour to London, though no connection with Leicester. But it earnt points for an airport link and access to the tram network.

Newcastle and Edinburgh share third place. The Scottish capital fared much better than Glasgow, in joint ninth place with Liverpool, because Edinburgh has more frequent trains to London, and immediate access at Haymarket station to the tram line – including a direct link to the airport.

Sheffield is fifth, with Bristol and Leeds sharing sixth position. Nottingham takes eighth place.

Liverpool and Glasgow can both claim that they should have scored more highly: a direct link between the two cities was due to start in 2018 but has yet to begin. 

The best connected station in London is St Pancras, which in the 1960s was a candidate for demolition.

Besides its original purpose as the terminus for the East Midlands main line, St Pancras also offers high-speed Southeastern services to Kent, Eurostar links to Paris, Brussels and the south of France, and Thameslink trains to Cambridge, Brighton and the airport stations for Gatwick and Luton.

When combined with King’s Cross, to which St Pancras is adjacent, the pair comprise by far the best rail hub in Britain.

The 12 cities and their scores
1. Birmingham (18)

2. Manchester (15)

3. = Edinburgh (12)

3. = Newcastle (12)

5. Sheffield (11)

6. = Bristol (10.5) 

6. = Leeds (10.5)

8. Nottingham (9.5)

9. = Liverpool (8.5)

9. = Glasgow (8.5)

11. Cardiff (6.5)

12. Leicester (6.5)

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/trains-cities-connections-leicester-birmingham-rail-best-worst-a9061091.html?amp&fbclid=IwAR2h2UEXXXUi8HumUeoR478X9xq5i6CNe_kRfV-Qze9l5Q-fjW-AXIT2L9A

 

 

wow & we used to be One of the raillinks  major "crossroads"..:unsure:

Edited by fuchsntf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No wonder I'm driving to Essex today to get to london tomorrow. It's easier, more efficient and a dam site cheaper, last time we went in for a midweek game we got there and back for 20 quid and they chucked in the underground zones we needed for nothing as well from manningtree station.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah it is rubbish. the fact you pretty much can’t get from leeds to leicester on a train and on the rare chance you might be able to it costs about 50 quid is mental. it’s literally a straight line down the centre of the country. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lack of a link to our immediate neighbouring cities, such as Coventry and Northampton, has hampered the City attracting working commuters, commuting students, weekend shoppers and the nighttime economy (and attracting football fans too - plenty of city fans in Kettering...but hardly any in Northampton)

 

It's a shame the Liverpool to Norwich trundler can't make a further stop in Leicester. Adding 20 mins to that marathon journey is hardly a pain. 

 

Also, adding a, say, Milton Keynes - Coventry - Leicester - Newark route creates lots of connections for us

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was having this conversation with someone the other week. Our station is shit too. We have what 4 platforms? Leicester is smack bang in the middle of the country and we should have a station like Nuneaton or Nottingham. 

 

Links to other cities are poor too like others have mentioned.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really doesn't have good connections. No direct trains to places like Coventry, limited service to the likes of Leeds, no direct route to the north-east, Liverpool, Manchester, none to Scotland, Wales or the South bar London. Peterborough is an hour away, has seven platforms and infinitely more accessible from other major cities.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Living in Coalville I have Rugby, Burton, Nuneaton and Tamworth all of which are pretty much equal driving time compared to getting round the city centre to Leicester. 

 

Parking is cheaper and easier, more services and a lot cheaper than going from Leicester. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

 

We now have 800 respondents to this survey and would like to reach 1000 to give us a more representative sample. If you haven't already please complete it, the results matter to us.

safe_image.php?d=AQB-eU6dNFz4x3Nh&w=540&
 
About This Website
 
DOCS.GOOGLE.COM
 
Under GDPR we take your personal data very seriously. Your email address will only be used to validate survey data, and, if you request it, to provide you occasional updates on the campaign. We will not sell or provide information to any other party. Please complete for each person (where appropriat...
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't normally go away games on the rattler because of the exorbitant prices but made a spur of the moment exception for the Sheffield Utd game.

On both journeys there were more standing than sitting, obviously not enough carriages, & on the return journey the air con had packed up on an extremely hot day.

Nearly £30 for a shit service, feck em, back to Zoonies for the Man Utd game.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, boots60 said:

Don't normally go away games on the rattler because of the exorbitant prices but made a spur of the moment exception for the Sheffield Utd game.

On both journeys there were more standing than sitting, obviously not enough carriages, & on the return journey the air con had packed up on an extremely hot day.

Nearly £30 for a shit service, feck em, back to Zoonies for the Man Utd game.

 

Got me thinking how much would a minibus cost for this weeks united game. From king power to old trafford for 14 people is 355 quid return, 25 quid each. Not bad considering you don't have to worry about parking etc.

https://www.minicabit.com/quotes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's madness that if you go via some shithole where dickheads live Nuneaton or Rugby it's loads cheaper to London. How can Leicester have the worst connections for a big city and cost the most? The rail network either needs to be fully privatised or fully nationalised because at the minute you're at the mercy of the franchise operator and most are shite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Stadt said:

It's madness that if you go via some shithole where dickheads live Nuneaton or Rugby it's loads cheaper to London. How can Leicester have the worst connections for a big city and cost the most? The rail network either needs to be fully privatised or fully nationalised because at the minute you're at the mercy of the franchise operator and most are shite.

The Virgin service to Euston from Rugby is reasonably priced. Bit of a snag though getting back to Leicester from Rugby after a day on the lash 😎

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...