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The Campaign to Re-Open The Ivanhoe Line
Burton-on-Trent to Leicester Through the National Forest
WE HAVE NEWS!!
The Ivanhoe Line Makes it through to the next round of the
Restoring your Railways Programme
See our full press release by clicking on the button below
Reconnecting Our Region
To The National Railway Network
...and Beyond!
Are you fed up with having to drive miles to the nearest station, or having to wait for local buses to transport you between Leicester and Burton?
The Ivanhoe Line exists today, and with some lobbying, we can have a reliable passenger railway between Burton-on-Trent to Leicester with stations along the way.
We are CRIL! The Campaign to Re-Open the Ivanhoe Line. We are a non-politcial group of local people who wish to restore the passenger services to the Ivanhoe Line. We feel the time is right to take a fresh look at re-opening this railway line to benefit the entire region.
About the Ivanhoe Line
Prior to 1964 the railway line was a direct passenger link between Burton on Trent and Leicester, but it was closed to passenger services under the Beeching Closures.
Now the area around is growing faster than in many other areas of the UK and a passenger railway is needed urgently.
At present the line is run only for slow-speed freight, mainly ballast trains from Bardon Quarry. We are lobbying for the realignment and upgrading of the track bed to allow light passenger trains to run a half-hour peak service.
Get in touch with us to find out how you can
Join the Club
You might want to just provide moral support, or you might want to bring your own gifts and skills to help push the vision along. We've already been amazed at the speed of development of the project.
The Story So Far...
CRIL formed in January 2019. For the last year we have formed a committee, started examining sections of track and services, engaged with local councils and politicians, and held numerous public engagement activities.
This has rapidly led to securing circa £50k of funding from all affected councils to procure a feasibility study. This is necessary as previous studies have been limited in their scope.
You know you're onto a good idea when everyone wants a slice of the action - it was quite a surprise to have councils push money in our direction. We knew that re-opening the line was obvious, but quite frankly we were surprised it did not take a lot to convince everyone else. We're now in the fortunate position of having to find a suitable consultancy practice that can work to our very specific instruction to progress the project as far as government approval.
Take A Look At The Things We Are Up To
The items below show the key areas we are operating in, but you'll also find them at the top menu when you're roaming around the site. In order to ensure we can keep going financially, we are sharing our more detailed information with "members" in return for a very small monthly fee. Click on the link below to find out more:
Benefits of Local Rail
A Modern Mass Transit System
For The 21st Century
The future should be about freedom to travel without harming the environment. It should be about connecting generations together and improving the ability to enjoy our natural environment.
Whilst there is no single solution, we need to put in place the major blocks that will allow transportation to be like this. One of these blocks is local train connections.
The Vision
Our vision of the line is that it will be a busy commuter line in the week with a half-hourly service at peak periods.
During the weekend the line will be used for tourism and leisure particularly to the National Forest.
Proposed stations are Drakelow, Gresley, Moira, Ashby, Coalville, Bagworth & Ellistown, Meynell’s Gorse and Leicester South, a new station adjacent to the King Power Stadium and other sports stadia. We will also propose an integrated
plan that interacts with bus services and makes use of park & ride facilities. Although we are primarily concerned with Burton to Leicester, once opened this line will have great potential which an ambitious operator could exploit.
