Coalville & Ashby Foxes - your thoughts on re-opening the Leicester to Burton railway to passengers?

[bluesbrothers]

(Thread edited because you wonderful people have maxed out SurveyMonkey's 100 response limit in the space of 4 hours! Thank you!)

 

Howdy folks - I'm heading into the final year of my Uni course now and am starting to work on my dissertation, which is going to look at how railways can help regenerate run-down areas. I'm focussing on Coalville, since for many years there have been attempts to re-open the line to passengers, with stations at Leicester Forest East, Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Swadlincote amongst others.

 

I've been running a survey about what people in and around Coalville think of the town, and the possibility of a new rail service. One big group I've missed so far though have been City fans - after all, there are plenty around, and the ones I've spoken to seem to like the idea of getting a train to matches and saving the hassle of driving. There may even be the odd Burton fan on the Ashby side who would benefit. The case could even be made for a station at Saffron Lane, right next to the ground!

 

So what are your thoughts on the route? I'm leaving this open as a general discussion thread on the topic.

 

Disclaimer - This thread approved by the almighty mod davieG

[purpleronnie]

My dad used the train at coalville to Leicester for games and back to Ashby too, he said it was great.  I'd love to see it reopen.  Coalville needs a better centre though which is going to be difficult given online sales transforming high streets.  Maybe they could lower rent and get some new unique shops trading.

[yorkie1999]

I don't thing a train service is going to help regenerate Coalville, in fact it'll do just the opposite. There's not going to be many people wanting to go from Burton, Ashby or Leicester to Coalville, all it will end up doing is take people away from the town and make other towns/cities more prosperous.

[davieG]

I don't thing a train service is going to help regenerate Coalville, in fact it'll do just the opposite. There's not going to be many people wanting to go from Burton, Ashby or Leicester to Coalville, all it will end up doing is take people away from the town and make other towns/cities more prosperous.

People that work in Leicester might think that if they can get a train into the City then it's a place worth moving to which could stimulate regeneration.

 

Improved transport links invariable mean greater prosperity for those being connected with residents from Leicester Forest East,  Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Swadlincote more likely to be attracted.

[soulsister]

Filled in for you,

 

I disagree, I think bringing the train line back will give the town a much needed boost,  and hopefully the council will have little option then but to sort the much needed and neglected shopping area out, and actually be bought to task for the shambles of losing the large investment that was promised years ago!!

 

All towns have competition from cities or out of town areas for shopping,  and people already have the bus or car routes to visit these, 

having our old train line back would at least be a foot in the right direction.

[Grandad.]

I think it would be a brilliant idea. 

[Guest MattP]

No idea if it would regenerate the area but I'll sign it purely on getting the chance to see the reaction to Michael Portillo wandering around Coalville in a pink suit.

[Manwell Pablo]

Done the survey.

 

Should of been done years ago, would certainly make my life a thousand times easier. I don't believe they'll ever do it though as they can't even get their fingers out and organize a half decent bus service that takes less than over an hour from Coalville to Leicester, and then wonder why it doesn't get used as much as they'd like. 

[bluesbrothers]

One point not really raised in the survey I meant to highlight - there are a few developments along the line that were originally built with the intention of sharing a link to the new route - the two main ones that spring to mind are the Park & Ride at Leicester Forest East/Braunstone and the Conkers Centre in Moira, both of which were supposed to have adjacent stations. I'm sure Snibston, for all it's recent troubles, might benefit from a passenger or two as well (if it survives long enough...)

 

The National Forest in general is an attraction which hasn't really received much publicity, and that to me is largely down to it being kind of "out of the way" - the transport links are poor, and apart from the Jubilee Wood that was planted in 2012, I can't think of any real media coverage it has had. It's undeniably a great place to get out and explore, but it doesn't have any real recognition outside the local area. The new proposals refer to the "Ivanhoe Line 2" as the "National Forest Line", so I think new proposals are going to emphasise its potential as a tourist route as well as for commuting and visiting Leicester/Burton. 

[davieG]

It's all a bit weird when you think that the councils were seriously considering a new tram line from Syston some time ago with all the cost that would involve which already has a railway link.

 

Let's not forget also that Syston Station was shut under the Beeching cuts but was then re-opened

 

They should also consider re-opening local stations like the Humberstone Rd and Blaby.

[Manwell Pablo]

It's all a bit weird when you think that the councils were seriously considering a new tram line from Syston some time ago with all the cost that would involve which already has a railway link.

 

Let's not forget also that Syston Station was shut under the Beeching cuts but was then re-opened

 

They should also consider re-opening local stations like the Humberstone Rd and Blaby.

 

The whole of the midlands is pretty poor for public transport if you ask me but Leicestershire in particular is dire and North West Leics is the direst place for transport in a dire county.

 

When I lived in Huddersfield there was towns, or even villages the size of  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penistone  and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denby_Dale  had fully operational stations with trains to Sheffield Barsnley and Huddersfield and their thousands of people off the population of Ashby never mind Coalville. 

[Webbo]

It's all a bit weird when you think that the councils were seriously considering a new tram line from Syston some time ago with all the cost that would involve which already has a railway link.

 

Let's not forget also that Syston Station was shut under the Beeching cuts but was then re-opened

 

They should also consider re-opening local stations like the Humberstone Rd and Blaby.

There's a train from Loughboro  to Leicester (and back) that calls at Barrow , Sileby and Syston.

[davieG]

There's a train from Loughboro  to Leicester (and back) that calls at Barrow , Sileby and Syston.

Yes I know but at one point Syston was closed and the original station and steps were demolished

[sphericalfox]

It would cause all sorts of road chaos both in Coalville and Ashby if reinstated. However wonderful it would be to hop on the train to Leicester from either, and it would possibly bring more people to both towns both in tourism, and potentially for those commuting to work, but I'd say the the numbers of those who might use it would outweigh the infrastructure needed to put it back in place.

 

It's fairly easy to drive to Derby <ach-spit> from Ashby/Coalville and catch the train there say than Loughborough, but as Ashby and Coalville sit on a commuter belt to the various cities and bigger towns of the East Midlands and including Birmingham, with pretty accessible motorway links, I doubt a train station would sway a business or person looking to relocate solely on that basis, so the council would have to be convinced by something seriously major investing in the area that would justify it.

[Smudge]

Since the line runs next to the KP stadium it needs a new station there. In which case you could get to the stadium from anywhere. For the relief of traffic congestion and parking issues, it seems like a no brainer.

[bluesbrothers]

Thanks to everyone who replied - in 5 hours, I've managed to go from 38 responses gained over 5 weeks to the 100 needed to complete the survey. You lot are magic. 

[Voll Blau]

Would require a bit of investment, and I guess a new set of points putting in at the junction near Saffron Lane? Having a train reverse there would surely cause too much of a hold-up on the Midland mainline?

[separator]

There's a train from Loughboro to Leicester (and back) that calls at Barrow , Sileby and Syston.

That's called the Ivanhoe line I believe and the original plan when those stations were reopened was for it to run to Coalville (I think). That line from Leicester to coalville s just used for freight trains at the moment.

Edit : there's a decent Wiki page about the Ivanhoe line. As Voll Blau said trains have to reverse at knighton junction to get access to the line towards Coalville