The Member of Parliament for Burton and Uttoxeter has welcomed the news that the railway line known locally as the Ivanhoe Line will be reopened to passenger services and extend to Derby.
The reopening of the Ivanhoe Line to passenger services will connect 250,000 people across East Staffordshire, South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire. The line will service Derby, Willington, Burton and Coalville with two new stations at Castle Gresley and Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Over recent months, the Campaign to Re-open the Ivanhoe Line group (CRIL) has been working closely with the Department for Transport after it received Government funding to build a business case to consider the viability of returning paying passenger services to this railway line.
Following the Prime Minister’s Party Conference Speech, it was confirmed that the reopening of the Ivanhoe Line would be one of the projects to benefit from the £9.6billion that is being reinvested from Phase 2 of HS2 into improving local and regional connections that people in the Midlands and the North want to see and which will drive jobs, growth and create a more modern economy.
Commenting, Kate Kniveton MP, said:
“I am delighted that the Ivanhoe line will be reopened, allowing Burton residents to travel to more destinations across the East and West Midlands by rail. This will also mean more trains serving Burton railway station and increased frequency of services to Derby.
“I want to pay tribute to the team at Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line and particularly, the group’s previous Chairman, the late Geoff Bushell. They have worked incredibly hard to carry these proposals over the line from conception to where we are now. This is a great result for them and for Burton.”
