Disappointment as reopening of railway line halted

The Ivanhoe Line was among projects under the now scrapped Restoring Your Railway programme

The restoration of a passenger rail link through the Midlands has been stopped in its tracks.

A business case for reopening the Ivanhoe Line rail link from Burton-upon-Trent to Leicester had been submitted before the election, with campaigners hopeful that work could begin in 2024.

But on Monday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Treasury needed to find £5.5bn of savings in 2024 and a further £8.1bn in 2025.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Chancellor said that the previous government's entire Restoring Your Railway programme would be scrapped, saving £85m.

She added individual schemes could be assessed by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh - but for now, the Ivanhoe Line and other projects yet to progress to their building stages had been halted.

The Ivanhoe line was one of the branch lines that closed as part of the infamous Beeching Cuts of the 1960s.

'Very disappointing'

Campaigners previously said that if backed by the government, the restoration project would be split into three phases.

The first, backed by Network Rail, would connect Coalville to Derby via stops at Ashby, Castle Gresley and Burton.

The eventual aim would be to link Coalville to a new station in south Leicester, and then finally on to the Midland Main Line.

Douglas McClay, from Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line group (CRIL), told the BBC on Tuesday that the news was "very disappointing".

"The project was just on the verge of being funded to the next stage when the election was called and the case that was put forward by Network Rail and ourselves was considered to be very strong," he said.

He said the review of transport projects by Ms Haigh was an avenue the campaign would "explore", and that the Ivanhoe Line would "produce exceptional benefit in an area that has received very little government funding".

In total, the government’s halting of what it called “unaffordable road and railway schemes” will save it a projected £785m.

Other high-profile projects affected by the announcement include the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel, the A27 Arundel Bypass and the restoration of the Portishead Line railway.

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