I welcome today's news that the electrification of the Midland Mainline rail route will resume with immediate effect under a plan announced by Network Rail and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
Sir Peter Hendy, the Chairman of Network Rail, has written to the Transport Secretary outlining how work on the Midland Mainline rail route could continue. The Transport Secretary has replied to Sir Peter asking Network Rail to resume this work immediately.
Under the new scheme Network Rail will recommence work to electrify the Midland Mainline – the vital long-distance corridor serving the UK’s industrial heartland. Sir Peter is proposing that line speed and capacity improvement works already in hand are added to, with electrification of the line north of Bedford to Kettering and Corby by 2019 and the line North of Kettering to Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Sheffield by 2023.
The total programme of rail electrification and upgrades will completely transform the railways for passengers in the Midlands and the North and help ensure that every part of Britain benefits from a growing economy.
This is great news for the people of South Derbyshire and shows that the Government’s decision to temporarily pause the programme has provided the space to develop a better plan for passengers, delivering more services and faster journeys.
Today’s announcement is important locally for jobs but also for continued investment by companies, particularly for Apprenticeships, all for the next eight years.
Having met in London with other MP’s, contractors and representatives from the LEP’s and Councils to make sure everyone realised how important this work was this is a great result I am so glad that the new plans put in place by Sir Peter Hendy mean this work can now go ahead.