East Midlands Parkway railway station

Infobox UK station
name = East Midlands Parkway


locale = Ratcliffe on Soar
borough = Nottinghamshire
platforms = 4 (planned)
manager = East Midlands Trains
events = Construction commences
events1 = Planned Opening
years = 2007
years1 = 2008
latitude = 52.863
longitude = -1.263

East Midlands Parkway is a planned railway station in the East Midlands of England, to serve East Midlands Airport. It will also provide park and ride facilities for commuters.

The station will be situated north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the already-existing Midland Main Line, in Nottinghamshire 500m from the border with Leicestershire and 2km from Derbyshire. On the Midland Main Line, it will be between Long Eaton or Beeston and Loughborough. Shuttle buses will provide a link to the airport. The main bulk of the station, including car parking, will be to the west of the line, opposite Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. Road access will be via the A453, which provides a link to the nearby M1 motorway.

The train operating company Midland Mainline were, until October 2006, responsible for the project, which has been in the planning stages for several years. This responsibility has now been transferred to Network Rail. Network Rail anticipates expenditure of GBP 5 million in 2006/07 and GBP 8 million in 2007/08. [cite web|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3117_Route%2019%20Midland%20Main%20Line%20and%20East%20Midlands.pdf|title=Route 19 Midland Main Line and East Midlands|work=Network Rail|accessdate=2008-03-28]

Building work commenced on the new £25.5 Million station on 19 December 2007, [cite web|url=http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=4612|title=East Midlands Parkway station construction begins|accessdate=2007-12-19|work=Transport Briefing] and was due to be completed by 14 December 2008, but this has since been moved back to early 2009. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7645030.stm|title=Rail station opening is delayed|accessdate=2008-10-01|work=BBC News Online (30 September 2008)]

Controversy

The construction of the station has not been uncontroversial; Midland Mainline sought Transport and Works Act (T&WA) powers to compulsarily purchase the land for the station [UK SI
year = 2005
number = 0008
section =
url = http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050008.htm
title = The East Midlands Parkway Station (Land Acquisition) Order 2005
isbn = 0110515528
made = 2005-01-07
laid =
force = 2005-01-28 ] . However, private agreements with the relevant landowners were agreed for the land required and the compulsory purchase order powers not utilised in this way. Objections against the station were received during the planning and T&WA process from E.ON UK (the owners of some of the land), Friends of the Earth, Nottinghamshire County Council, and the Campaign to Protect Rural England [cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/twa/dl/eastmidlandsparkwaystationla5629|title=East Midlands Parkway Station (Land Acquisition) Order|date=2005-05-09|accessdate=2008-03-28|publisher=Department for Transport] .There are also concerns from the people of the nearby town of Loughborough that the opening of the station could lead to the reduction in the number of trains stopping there, although this has been denied by Midland Mainline. Another concern is the possible withdrawal of the existing bus service from Loughborough station to the airportFact|date=March 2007.

ervices

It is expected that the station will be served by the majority of services running on the Midland Main Line route, as a result destinations may include Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Leeds, Market Harborough, York, Sheffield, London, Lincoln, Bedford and Luton.

Fears have been raised by various bodies, notably East Midlands Airport, about the service pattern proposed for the new station [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7314079.stm |title=Fears over new station's services |work=BBC News Online |accessdate=2008-03-26|date=2008-03-26] . Mainline routes to London and Nottingham could be few and far between, although Connect services would be more frequent.

rail line one to three|previous=Loughborough|next1=Beeston|route1=East Midlands Trains
London to Nottingham|next2=Long Eaton|route2=East Midlands Trains
London to Derby
London to Sheffield|next3=Attenborough|route3=East Midlands Trains
Leicester-Lincoln|col=FFA500

References

External links

* [http://www.cpmg-architects.com/html/projects/parkway_station.htm Architects' Design] this design and the architects has been supeseded
* [http://www.midlandmainline.com/company_information.asp Midland Mainline information] (Somewhat out of date as of 2 October 2005. It still says "waiting for government approval".)
* Department for Transport [http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_034404.hcsp Decision Letter] of 22 December 2004 giving approval