Kate Griffiths, Member of Parliament for Burton and Uttoxeter, has welcomed the news that the Department for Transport have approved plans that will see the proposals to reopen the Ivanhoe railway line between Burton and Leicester taken to the next stage.
As part of the Government’s Restoring Your Railways scheme, the group ‘Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line’ (CRIL) successfully bid, alongside the support of all local MPs, for funding to develop a business case to demonstrate the viability or reopening the line to paying passengers.
Today (18th June 2022) the Department for Transport have confirmed that the bid will receive further funding as the line moves a step closer to being reopened. The bid has so far impressed Ministers with the potential benefits to local communities and the regional economy if the railway line were to reopen to passenger traffic.
Commenting, Kate Griffiths MP said:
“It is superb that the bid to reopen the Ivanhoe Line to passengers has moved a step further to being achieved. This is excellent news for Burton and if successful will make a real difference to regional connectivity and our economy locally.
“I pay tribute to the continuing efforts of the campaign group CRIL as they work closely with officials at the Department for Transport to make a compelling business case for reopening the line and I will continue to make that same case to Ministers.
“I look forward to seeing the plans moving further forward as this project moves full steam ahead!”
In a letter confirming the development the Minister of State for Transport, Wendy Morton, said:
“Following our award of grant funding to submit a Strategic Outline Business Case for the scheme, the Ivanhoe Line has been assessed and I am pleased to say that the Department would like to support the further development of the scheme to the next stage by providing further funding from the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
“This scheme presents significant potential to improve connectivity for communities along the route of the Ivanhoe Line and I look forward to seeing it progress.”