Ilkeston Train Station

Campaign

The subject of a new railway station has in the last few years featured regularly in the local media as a very real possibility. Support has grown substantially and Derbyshire County Council has worked with Network Rail’s new development review process. Erewash MP Jessica Lee has brought up the issue in the House of Commons and Westminster Hall.

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» Ilkeston Advertiser: Get Ilkeston Back on Track

» Jessica Lee MP, Westminster Hall, House of Commons and the Transport Committee

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Ilkeston Advertiser: Get Ilkeston Back on Track

Get Ilkeston Back on Track Since 2010 the Ilkeston Advertiser ran a petition entitled “Get Ilkeston Back on Track” aimed at residents and businesses in Ilkeston wishing to lend their support for the proposed station plans. Each week the newspaper featured a cut-out-and-return signature slip and a printable version was made available online.

On 14th April 2012 the Advertiser together with Erewash MP Jessica Lee ran a campaign stall on Ilkeston Market Place as a final effort to collect signatures before submitting over 1,400 names to the Department for Transport.

Get Ilkeston Back on Track

Jessica Lee, House of Commons and the Transport Committee

In December 2010 Erewash MP Jessica Lee raised in Parliament the issue of rail provision and funding in Ilkeston. Though South Erewash has a train service, the North – Ilkeston – does not. With car ownership low and unemployment particularly high in this part of Derbyshire, residents seeking work opportunities feel isolated and marginalized. Moreover, the struggling retail outlets in the town centre need trade and shoppers. Ilkeston FC could also bring in football supporters from other towns when home matches are played.

In 2012 a Liverpool Labour MP launched a debate on two Transport Select Committee reports that focused on a spending review and expenditure plans for transport infrastructure. The last major report commissioned by the government linking transport and economy was the 2006 Eddington Report, in which important points were raised about a long term transport strategy. Targeted delivery of projects to deprived, rural or congested areas of the country, the report said, would provide social, economic and environmental benefits, as well as attracting private sector investment; A train company providing a stopping service at a new station for example.

The 2012 debate

• Many contributions from MPs representing constituencies of neighbouring counties are sympathetic to Ilkeston’s desire for a new railway station.

• The figure of £5 - £6 million was brought up in the debate, although figures of £3.5 - £4.5 million have been quoted. This figure has been queried on separate occasions at a Nottingham Joint Planning Advisory Board meeting as being rather expensive.

• If the overall cost can be brought down, the figure that Derbyshire County Council must “underwrite” will also be lower.

• For Network Rail to make any commitments, they need to see Derbyshire County Council raise funds as security to cover a scenario in which there is reduced patronage

Your views

Read and comment on letters/articles sent in by residents, businesses, MPs and Councillors.

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