Harborough rail users
Improving the quality of Market Harborough's rail service
Questions remain about the government's exact plans for electrification of the Midland Main Line (MML) through Market Harborough. Though the section from Bedford to Kettering and Corby is confirmed for completion in 2019, there are worries that Phase 2, from Kettering via Market Harborough to Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield, due in 2023, may not go ahead. Nicky Morgan, MP for Loughborough, is so concerned that she is using an adjournment debate in the Commons on 7th November to seek an assurance from the Transport Minister that the scheme will still go ahead. Decisions need to be made quickly as the InterCity 125 High Speed Trains, wonderful though they are, need to be replaced or expensively modernised by the end of 2019. Nicky Morgan made the very valid point that if the MML is not electrified, it will be the last inter-city line to London not to be electrified. 'What does that say about the importance that we in the country attach to the Midlands?', she asked. BBC Radio Leicester's Breakfast programme covered the story with a reporter at Market Harborough station interviewing HRU and passengers about it. The Department for Transport stated that the national rail enhancement programme remains in place.
In March 2016, Leicestershire County Council published a draft Rail Strategy for the county. It was prepared in the context of the major growth in rail traffic and a recognition of the importance of the railways to the economy and prosperity of the area. A significant factor is the government’s commitment to building HS2, the eastern leg of which passes through north-west Leicestershire but without any local stations. The draft Strategy seeks to ensure the best advantage to the area from HS2 despite this. Overall, the draft Strategy is positive towards rail and sets out numerous ways in which rail services in the county could be developed.
Key Priority 1 in the draft Strategy is Maximising the benefits from increased investment in the Midland Main Line railway infrastructure and services and this is clearly of great importance to HRU. In our response, we supported this aim, with particular reference to ensuring that we retain suitably high-quality rolling stock after electrification so that we are not downgraded to an outer-suburban service. Though the Strategy understandably focuses on Leicester and its aim to get within 60 minutes of St Pancras, we stressed that the other stations on the line, particularly Market Harborough, should not be overlooked. With that in mind, we reiterated the need for our station to be brought up to proper modern standards, including accessibility, under the linespeed improvement project. We also supported the various potential improvements to inter-regional services to the West Midlands, via HS2 to the North and via East-West Rail to the Thames Valley and East Anglia. In all of this, however, we noted that the role of the local authorities and LEP is chiefly one of facilitating and lobbying for improvements rather than directly providing them. We therefore support the draft Strategy and hope it will be formally adopted by both the County and City Councils. The announcement today by the Secretary of State for Transport that the project to electrify the Midland Main Line can be restarted came as a surprise. It will be done in two stages; Bedford to Kettering and Corby by 2019 and Kettering to Leicester, Nottingham. Derby and on to Sheffield by 2023. Though later than the original intended timetable, this is still welcome news. Further information can be found on the DfT website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transpennine-and-midland-mainline-electrification-works-to-resume
We await further details, especially regarding the straightening of the line through Market Harborough plus the long overdue rebuilding of the station platforms. The delay at least gives the opportunity for the tracks on the ground to be sorted out before we see wires in the air! On Thursday 25th June the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, announced that electrification of the Midland Main Line was to be 'paused'. This is part of a national rescheduling of major Network Rail investment schemes following delays and cost overruns including the Great Western Main Line electrification - though that is going ahead as a priority.
The delay in electrifying our line is a disappointment but the Transport Secretary did indicate that speed and capacity improvements can still go ahead without electrification. He is right about that and the track realignment through Market Harborough must now be a priority. This has been debated for long enough. There is wide-ranging agreement amongst the rail industry, the local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships and others, as well as user groups, that this scheme is of great benefit to the whole line and the places it serves; not just Market Harborough. For us, if done properly it means the provision of a modern station at platform level, with full accessibility from street to platform and from platform to train. HRU will press for the scheme to be delivered and we need to know exactly what is now proposed and exactly when it is to be done. Then, not only will the station be properly fit for purpose, it will also be ready for electrification when that is finally authorised. For those who don’t know, earlier this year Network Rail and the Government announced plans to electrify the Midland Mainline between Bedford and Sheffield during the period between 2014-19. This would, of course, mean the electrification of the service running through Market Harborough station. HRU broadly supports this upgrade to our service but also hopes that this doesn’t delay the other work that desperately needs to be done at Market Harborough station – primarily the up line platform extension and line straightening work through Harborough station. We wait to see how these will be taken forward. In the meantime, we’d be interested in your views on the plans for electrification.
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