Rail campaigners have backed new plans to re-open the Ivanhoe Line from Coalville to Derby - but will still push for a future link to Leicester.

Ashby Nub News reported on Tuesday that Network Rail said the most cost-effective way to get passenger trains back on the line was to delay the route linking Coalville and Leicester until phase two of the development.

The line would still open at Ashby, with a new station planned towards the centre of the town.

But the route would only take passengers to Coalville or, in the northwesterly direction, Moira, Castle Gresley and Burton, before joining the existing track to Derby.

The cost of the new track needed to provide a link to Leicester is considered too expensive for now.

However, as part of the Restoring Your Railway Programme, work on the Ivanhoe Line must start before the next General Election, which is around a year away.

Image: CRIL

The Campaign for the Re-opening of the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL) issued a response today (Wednesday) and said it was good news that a large part of the line is planned to be used.

CRIL's statement says: "The project will now concentrate on connecting the key towns in the corridor at Coalville, Ashby and Swadlincote/Castle Gresley to Burton-on-Trent. 

"Additionally, the project will aim to extend the service north to Derby to provide direct connectivity to job and education opportunities. 

"The Network Rail work demonstrated that the benefits of getting to Leicester are not enough to justify the costs of the track work, at this time.

"Whilst CRIL members are pleased that the railway to Coalville would be re-opened to passengers under this project, our aim is to get services restored to Leicester main line station. 

"CRIL fully supports this initial scheme, but we will continue to campaign for a separate future project to complete the job. 

"This would then be a much more attractive proposition when the results of the initial Ivanhoe service provide a concrete demonstration of the demand for rail travel along the corridor."

CRIL spokesman Douglas McLay said: "It's an exciting prospect to see Coalville, Ashby and Swadlincote once again connected by a passenger rail service to Burton and Derby. 

"Once this happens it will give us a great start to build our case for the future extension of services to Leicester.

A new station in Ashby could be close to the old building that served the line before it was axed in the 1960s. Photo: Ashby Nub News

"This is all very exciting news, tinged of course with sadness that we can't reopen the whole line in one step. However right from the very start of the campaign we knew we could find ourselves in such a situation. 

"We discussed it when the late Geoff Bushell was in the chair. He reminded us of several similar campaigns elsewhere which had refused the opportunity of a partial opening and are still waiting to get anything done for their communities. 

"We agreed at that early stage that a partial opening would be a fantastic catalyst to getting passenger trains running on the whole line.

"CRIL was formed by Geoff in 2019. He tirelessly raised awareness for the re-opening of the Ivanhoe Line, and formed a team of volunteer specialists to support him. 

He gained the public support of all nine first and second tier local authorities along the line, as well as all the local MPs, all of whom continue to support the campaign.

CRIL successfully bid to Join the Government's Restoring Your Railways Programme. 

Network Rail received government funding from the Restoring Your Railway programme in June 2022 to further develop the Ivanhoe project.

This development stage will conclude around the end of the year, with the selection of a preferred option and the production of an Outline Business Case.

This will be considered by Network Rail and the Department for Transport to determine whether to allow the project to continue to the Design stage.

Network Rail's 'Rolls Royce' option for Ashby's station which would be accessed from Tamworth Road and have parking space. Image: Network Rail

Network Rail received Government funding from the Restoring Your Railway programme in June 2022 to further develop the Ivanhoe project. 

To qualify for support from this programme, the proposed work must meet the Government's parameters:

● Successful schemes must be ready to start work on the ground before the next election. This means the detailed design work must be fully complete and costed. Also the benefits must be identified, quantified and clearly demonstrate that they meet the government's criteria. If all this is not done and work cannot be started before the next election we will not be considered for funding,

● The total budget for the whole programme is £500m. The Dartmoor line and the Northumberland line projects have already been funded from this budget

Trains would now turnaround in Coalville rather than going on to Leicester. Photo: Instantstreetview.com

Part of the focus over the last 12 months has been on the application of Minimum Viable Product principles, revisiting the aims of the project and the target train service to best balance cost and benefits. 

CRIL says this approach will maximise the chances of passenger trains running on the line again.

A statement on the group's Facebook page adds: "Experience on the two most recent passenger railway reopenings in the UK - The Borders Railway and the Dartmoor Line - has shown that the actual usage of the lines has greatly exceeded expectations. 

"This together with the inevitable impetus to the lines credibility caused by trains actually running between Derby and Coalville will make it easier for CRIL to make the case for the to be extended to Leicester to the next government after the General Election.

"CRIL will be carrying on campaigning for the full reopening and build on this initial opening, working with councils and politicians and the support of the public.

"The plans for the location of the stations at Coalville, Ashby and Gresley (for Swadlincote) have already been discussed with local councils. 

"Network Rail has proposed several options of station designs to the local councils, and the selection of the best site will be decided through local consultation. The stations will be a minimalist design providing disabled access to the platform which will have a shelter, train indicator boards and ticket machines. 

"As these will be relatively low cost additional stations could be built after opening when there is more time to build the cases and real usage data would be available to more accurately predict the demand for additional stations. CRIL would be keen to work with local communities (such as Drakelow and Moira/National Forest) to propose such extra stations."