The Campaign to Re-Open The Ivanhoe Line

[Paninistickers]

who selects the routes though @davieG ?

 

How comes the rail companies decide you can go Cardiff to Nottingham via Derby ....and not Cardiff to Nottingham via Leicester?  

 

The line exists to go Leicester to Manchester via Derby and Stockport (I've been on it) but no trains run the route? 

 

Can the councils canvas the rail operator to lay on more.routes? 

 

 

 

[davieG]

13 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

who selects the routes though @davieG ?

 

How comes the rail companies decide you can go Cardiff to Nottingham via Derby ....and not Cardiff to Nottingham via Leicester?  

 

The line exists to go Leicester to Manchester via Derby and Stockport (I've been on it) but no trains run the route? 

 

Can the councils canvas the rail operator to lay on more.routes? 

 

 

 

As far as Governments of all colours are concerned the East Midland  is a nonentity and Leicester is down the list after Notts/Derby. All the money goes either south or the North West.

 

Soulsby doesn't help with his isolationist agenda with his  'President of the City of Leicester' persona.

 

Back in the 60s Leicester was the go to place for new initiatives, 1st local radio, 1st multi- story / supermarket (Lee Circle), 1st Traffic Wardens after London, all the big entertainment acts had Leicester on their itinerary. Historically One of  the first English Parliaments, Thomas Cook, In the 50s/60s Leicester was the 2nd most Prosperous city and the Cleanest in Europe.

[Paninistickers]

I see the government has gone balls deep to support the Oxford Cambridge line to the tune of 3.5bn. Been 15 years in the discussion and build, yet still a good decade away. 

 

I can't still get my head round from 1840 to 1900, the UK built an entire network from scratch. In 60 years. Yet in the same time frame by 2035, this era will have built hs1, HS2, Bristol to portishead, Nottingham to Mansfield and Oxford to Cambridge. That's it. 

 

 

[davieG]

4 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

I see the government has gone balls deep to support the Oxford Cambridge line to the tune of 3.5bn. Been 15 years in the discussion and build, yet still a good decade away. 

 

I can't still get my head round from 1840 to 1900, the UK built an entire network from scratch. In 60 years. Yet in the same time frame by 2035, this era will have built hs1, HS2, Bristol to portishead, Nottingham to Mansfield and Oxford to Cambridge. That's it. 

 

 

Same with roads and even repairs and improvements. This is why they should have gone for quick wins/returns like the Ivanhoe

[Paninistickers]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

Same with roads and even repairs and improvements. This is why they should have gone for quick wins/returns like the Ivanhoe

Exactly. 90% of the work is done. Not even any planning ffs

[kenny]

2 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

Exactly. 90% of the work is done. Not even any planning ffs

It's Leicestershire. In the Midlands.

 

We really aren't important.

[Guest Lako42]

The country is literally incapable. 

 

It's pathetic 

[Jon the Hat]

6 hours ago, Lako42 said:

The country is literally incapable. 

 

It's pathetic 

NIMBYs, planning rules, environmental concerns, legal challenges to every decision.  We have put in place structures to enable those against to block literally anything.

[Lionator]

7 hours ago, Lako42 said:

The country is literally incapable. 

 

It's pathetic 

The cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 was imo the final breath of this country as a meaningful entity. 

[The Fox Covert]

On 15/03/2025 at 14:57, davieG said:

As far as Governments of all colours are concerned the East Midland  is a nonentity and Leicester is down the list after Notts/Derby. All the money goes either south or the North West.

 

Soulsby doesn't help with his isolationist agenda with his  'President of the City of Leicester' persona.

 

Back in the 60s Leicester was the go to place for new initiatives, 1st local radio, 1st multi- story / supermarket (Lee Circle), 1st Traffic Wardens after London, all the big entertainment acts had Leicester on their itinerary. Historically One of  the first English Parliaments, Thomas Cook, In the 50s/60s Leicester was the 2nd most Prosperous city and the Cleanest in Europe.

This is true but Soulsby must be deeply concerned about the loss of two of Leicester's three MPs at the last election. Leicester East was arguably self-inflicted because having got rid of Vaz, the local party selected someone even worse. The Tories have not won that seat in my lifetime, if ever. But Jon Ashworth in Leicester South is well-respected and seems to have been a victim of tactical voting and a less than even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestine conflict by the Labour leadership, which understandably annoyed Muslim voters.

[Sly]

I just can’t see this ever being re-opened. 

[Ashley]

I take it the Syston line from Leicester to Notts etc is apart of this line as its got a Ivanhoe logo and writing on the sign? 

 

Anyone know anything about it? Seen it on Tuesday going to the England game and seeing this thread just reminded me 

 

Edit: Google image search added.

Edited 14 June 2025 by Ashley

[Guest Lako42]

2 hours ago, The Fox Covert said:

This is true but Soulsby must be deeply concerned about the loss of two of Leicester's three MPs at the last election. Leicester East was arguably self-inflicted because having got rid of Vaz, the local party selected someone even worse. The Tories have not won that seat in my lifetime, if ever. But Jon Ashworth in Leicester South is well-respected and seems to have been a victim of tactical voting and a less than even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestine conflict by the Labour leadership, which understandably annoyed Muslim voters.

Leicester won't get **** all now under this government 

[The Syrup]

The section of the line from Coalville to Burton I believe has been mothballed / marked as not in use due to extensive cable theft. It was hardly used by freight trains anyway. The bit from Coalville to Leicester still used by trains to service the quarries around Bardon. Sadly this just adds to the cost of recommissioning the line for passenger use in the future. Can't see it happening

[davieG]

This must be from Leicester/shire

 

[HighPeakFox]

17 hours ago, Lako42 said:

Leicester won't get **** all now under this government 

It was never getting anything from the last one either. All performative nonsense. 

[TeamRocket]

I remember the Leicester to Manchester line. My brother used to use it every week to his bird (at the time), but I went once found a really good job in Manchester, but then they went and shut it down. So for a couple of years, had to do missions to come home for the weekends. Funny thing i always blamed my brother for dumping his bird cos it was around the same time they shut it down. 😄 🤣 

 

[Guest worth_the_wait]

On 15/06/2025 at 08:59, The Syrup said:

The section of the line from Coalville to Burton I believe has been mothballed / marked as not in use due to extensive cable theft. It was hardly used by freight trains anyway. The bit from Coalville to Leicester still used by trains to service the quarries around Bardon. Sadly this just adds to the cost of recommissioning the line for passenger use in the future. Can't see it happening

I suspect the main problem is not so much it's a freight line.   Quite a few such lines have re-opened as passenger lines in recent years.

The biggest problem is the direction of Knighton South Junction, and there's no easy way of building a north-facing spur towards Leicester.

Reversing at South Wigston, say, is not really practical (even if theoretically possible).

 

[davieG]

Campaign for the Reopening of the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL)

 

Douglas McLay ·

 

Although we haven't yet featured in any of the governments funding announcements, the work goes on.

You may be interested in this article from the Daily Telegraph which discusses some issues associated with future developments on the National Rail Network

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/labour-s-great-rail-revival-has-already-hit-the-buffers/ar-AA1J7nQd?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=132afc127f534f86cb7bb535acc7e799&ei=16&fbclid=IwY2xjawLvIy9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpz-2snd7x0VnQP7IVPyFD_NbAplBjuF_0Ma2RcBvo65uPZbz_vP6ck_Q9yw_aem__6vgIGjniJMvlzlm1odUMQ

[Voll Blau]

I see the Reform Council in West Northants are all over the ridiculous fantasy of reopening the Harborough to Northampton line.

 

Yet again, nobody's bothering to explain how they'd manage to do it without ripping up a decent chunk of southern Harborough and Little Bowden.

 

[Stadt]

15 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

I see the Reform Council in West Northants are all over the ridiculous fantasy of reopening the Harborough to Northampton line.

 

Yet again, nobody's bothering to explain how they'd manage to do it without ripping up a decent chunk of southern Harborough and Little Bowden.

 

 I don't know the area particularly well but a spur off the existing MML would avoid that. If the northward electrification work ever gets going it'd be sensible to tie it in (two monumental assumptions there).

 

Non-London southbound connectivity from Leicester is absolutely abysmal, going via or Birmingham or London is so bloody daft.

[Voll Blau]

43 minutes ago, Stadt said:

 I don't know the area particularly well but a spur off the existing MML would avoid that. If the northward electrification work ever gets going it'd be sensible to tie it in (two monumental assumptions there).

 

Non-London southbound connectivity from Leicester is absolutely abysmal, going via or Birmingham or London is so bloody daft.

Not sure where you could build that logistically between Harborough and Braybrooke though. Braybrooke Taproom might have to be sacrificed!

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it happen, but I'm fed up of political opportunists (of many colours) chucking this idea out once every 18 months without there ever being *any* update on the practicality of it.

[Paninistickers]

Reading that the Dept for Transport is investing in rail upgrades the north again, Manchester (of course)  and moves to reopen the leamside line in the north east..

 

No word on the upgrades needed at Nuneaton for the Cov line and obvs no mention of the Ivanhoe (Incredible seeing as it's reopening is such as easy win. The line is already there FFS) 

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Paninistickers said:

Reading that the Dept for Transport is investing in rail upgrades the north again, Manchester (of course)  and moves to reopen the leamside line in the north east..

 

No word on the upgrades needed at Nuneaton for the Cov line and obvs no mention of the Ivanhoe (Incredible seeing as it's reopening is such as easy win. The line is already there FFS) 

Just been shouting at Reeeeeeeves on BBC Breakfast sitting there talking smugly about the Northern Powerhouse.. Even the titbit nod to the midlands/central England was the mention of the Oxford- Cambridge link.

[Stadt]

Leicestershire must be about the worst funded place the country per head. The schools I think have the absolute lowest funding p/h, regionally the East Mids receives the least transport-wise. No devolved mayoralty (not that I want it) and the funding that brings.

 

The stoic, head down nature of the midlands doesn't help us out much in pork barrel land.