A PROPOSAL by Midlands Connect will be taken forward to a full business case with the aim of reinstating direct rail services between Nottingham, Leicester and Coventry.
Midlands Connect says the plan would vastly improve connectivity and also work towards decarbonisation.
There were direct services until 2004, but with the removal of pointwork south of Nuneaton station as part of the West Coast Route upgrade, trains lost direct access into the platforms that are used to access the Coventry line.
Present journey times can take between 54 and 78 mins, depending on connection times at Nuneaton, but with Leicester and Coventry just 25 miles apart and connected via the M69 motorway, it’s not surprising only 3% of all travellers use rail. Midlands Connect believes, backed by a public survey, that this could rise to 30% (two million passengers annually) with a direct service .