New research shows that a rail link between Coventry, Leicester, and Nottingham would create 3,000 jobs in the construction industry and the supply chain.
The research, conducted by Midlands Connect, the transport partner of the Midlands Engine and the Midlands’ Sub-national Transport Body, shows that there would be a peak requirement of 850 jobs in 2031 and an average of about 400 each year.
Most roles are expected to be in skilled occupations such as engineering, operations, or project management, and throughout the programme, 70 apprentices could be recruited and trained.
The project to link Coventry, Leicester, and Nottingham by rail is envisaged to take 7 years.
The jobs created could generate an extra £68m of economic value and nearly £11m in Social Value benefits, including environmental, well-being, and social benefits.
The calculated benefits are besides the traditional transport and wider economic benefits that were outlined in the project’s business case, which was £170m at the last update.
Midlands Connect has also submitted a business case to improve the Nottingham to Lincoln rail corridor.
It is projected that journey times along the route would be significantly reduced, with journeys from Coventry to Leicester down from 54 to 30 minutes, and from Coventry to Nottingham falling to around 65 minutes.
There would also be the opportunity for new, direct, and more frequent links from Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway to Coventry.
Only 3% of journeys between Coventry and Leicester are currently made by train compared to 30% of journeys between Coventry and Birmingham.
Average speeds are also similarly affected, with average speeds between Coventry and Leicester currently less than 30mph compared to over 100mph for trains from Coventry to London.
“This project is so much more than just a rail scheme, it will create high-skilled and high-paid jobs, grow our economy and kick-start careers, thanks to the creation of apprenticeship roles.
Andrew Clark, Integrated Transport Programme Lead at Midlands Connect
“At the moment it can take up to 70 minutes to travel less than 25 miles between Coventry and Leicester, and passengers have to change trains halfway – it’s simply not good enough – our plans will fix that and link key Midland cities, once and for all.”
Responses
I do think that having a new rail link to link between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham is a good idea. I think it should be given the go ahead.