Coventry to Nuneaton rail upgrade approved
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Coventry City Council is celebrating the fantastic news that the £19.2 million bid to upgrade the railway line between Coventry and Nuneaton has been approved.
The Council and its partners - Warwickshire County Council and Centro - submitted their final detailed bid to the Department for Transport for the upgrade earlier this year.
The Coventry - Nuneaton Rail Upgrade scheme, known locally as NUCKLE, includes a new bay platform at Coventry railway station, a new station at Coventry (Ricoh) Arena, a longer platform at Bedworth and a new station at Bermuda Park. Now this approval means that two-carriage trains will run between Nuneaton and Coventry every 30 minutes. On match or major event days trains will run between Coventry and the Ricoh every 15 minutes.
Cllr John Mutton, Leader of Coventry City Council said: "I am absolutely delighted with this fantastic news. It means we can at last get on and provide the kind of sensible rail link that we and local residents have been calling for a long time. The new rail link will make a fantastic connection between the Friargate development which is set to create up to 15,000 new jobs, the north of Coventry and the wider Warwickshire area. We are one of the best connected areas in the country and this can only improve things. It will help us to create new jobs and attract new business too - which is great news."
A detailed planning application, for the new stations at Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park in Warwickshire, is set to be submitted in January next year. Construction is set to start in late 2012 and the new stations in May 2014.
Councillor Linda Bigham, Cabinet Member City Development said, "This is great news for Coventry and I am delighted that all the years of hard work that has gone into this has finally paid off. The new link will provide a real boost to people living in the north of the city and will help to open up new opportunities to jobs. Now we need to get on and submit the planning application so we can at last get it built. This new link will provide another public transport option for people and I am sure it will be well used. This is yet another step forward for our great city - and what a fantastic Christmas present for us all."
£3.5m or ERDF funding has also secured to support to the scheme, which strengthens the viability of the scheme.
Cllr Tom Ansell, Centro's Lead Member for Rail and Metro, added: "We believe the new service and station on the line should act as a stimulus for economic regeneration, bringing badly needed new jobs to the region.
"Following this positive announcement by the Government, Centro is now looking forward to working with our partners to deliver the improved rail service on this crucial route for the West Midlands."
