McLoughlin demands MML upgrade!

This from the Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP...

This is clearly not a line in decline—it is a line with increasing investment, improving services and more passengers. 

Yet I understand the widespread desire for even further improvement. The campaigners want their line to be electrified, but electrification would not necessarily make the trains run any faster. That could be achieved with current rolling stock were it not for the layout of the line. 

The midland main line contains a high proportion of curves, junctions and stations which mean that very high speed is impracticable. Although the speeds on the line are good, they could be even better...

Quite so Minister, quite so.

Wise words from 1990, and we are still waiting.

Over to you, the sooner the better of course!

Derby Telegraph wins award for Derbygate campaign

Good news from today's Regional Press Awards...

The Derby Telegraph has won two awards.

The paper won Campaigning Newspaper of the Year for its Bombardier campaign following the award of the Thameslink fleet order to Siemens, and Steve Hall was named as Editor of the Year.

Good effort and well deserved.

Eye readers will be aware of the fury in the East Midlands over the Thameslink contract award, a fury given full voice by the Derby Telegraph.

So shaken were the normally supine ministers and mandarins at the Department for Transfer that they actually worked over Christmas to end a 999 day rolling stock order hiatus, awarding a contract in record time to Bombardier's Derby plant on the 28th December last year to provide Southern with much needed new trains.

Since then, despite much ministerial huffing and puffing over the new IEP and Thameslink fleets, nothing of course.

If any doubts remain over the particular power of the Derby Telegraph the picture below should put paid to them...

Once bitten, twice shy eh, Dave?

PM enters Derbyshire bear-pit and survives

Following the debacle of Derbygate the East Midlands rail industry no longer appears shy of letting government know exactly what it wants.

The Prime Minister was in Derbyshire yesterday to gee-up the troops ahead of the local Elections.

The timing of his visit could not have better, with Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan also having secured an Adjournment debate last night on upgrading the Midland Main Line.

Alert to the lobbying possibilities cheeky local paper the Derby Telegraph decided to welcome the PM with a frontpage demanding electrification of the MML.

Here a delighted Mr Cameron grimaces as he holds yesterday's paper having promised to 'look closely' at the scheme.


With happy memories of previous ministerial visits to Bombardier ahead of the Thameslink decision, let's hope this picture doesn't come back and bite him!

MML Upgrade goes Parliamental!

Clearly the East Midlands has learnt the lessons of Derbygate.

Determined not to be caught out again by Ministerial double speak local MPs are turning up the heat to secure the upgrade of the Midland Main Line (MML).

Whilst all sorts of smooth and silken words have discreetly emerged from Marsham Street about the project being a 'dead cert' for CP5, apparently not everyone is convinced.

The Tory party's potential new Robert Adley (Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan) has secured a 16th April adjournment debate on Electrification of the Midland main line.

Good effort but no cigar!

As the below shows the real improvements to the MML comes from Upgrading the route, of which electrification is but a part (click on the image to view).


Eye readers hoping to benefit from this upgrade may wish to invite their own MPs to contribute to this debate?

Meanwhile, this salutary reminder from Simon Carr of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership:

"More money has been spent on improving car parks on the West Coast Main Line in the past five years than on the whole of the Midland Main Line."