COALVILLE MP Amanda Hack has told Parliament that she will continue to fight for the re-opening of the Ivanhoe Line - and plans to meet the Rail Minister next week.

Campaigners confirmed last week that plans to run a passenger service between Coalville and Derby, via Ashby, had been cancelled.

The route had been on course to re-open for the first time since the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s.

But the change of government saw the scheme shelved in its planned form.

The Campaign for the Re-opening of the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL) expressed its disappointment at the decision after so much work had been put in to it.

But cash for the route from the Restore Your Railways Fund was cut when the Labour government came to power last summer.

However, the MP for North West Leicestershire, in her maiden speech to the House of Commons, stressed the importance of reviving the line.

She referenced the oil tanker which forms part of the bag at the Mother and Child Statue in Coalville to illustrate her point.

Ms Hack said: "North West Leicestershire's fingerprints are all over the rail industry.

"The oil tanker represents William Stableford's wagon works which delivered large contracts for both English and foreign railways.

"It's perhaps ironic then that my constituency has no passenger rail service at all.

"Even though the manufacturer Siemens completed the signalling work on the Elizabeth Line from their base in Ashby.

"One of my major goals in this house is to get the Ivanhoe Line back running again with passengers.

"This line was originally created in the 1830s by the great industrialist and father of the railways George Stephenson.

"Re-opening it has the potential to create a beautiful train line to travel through the greenery of the National Forest. The National Forest line would sound nice."

In a further statement released today (Tuesday) she said: "Last week's budget was a big step towards fixing the foundations of our economy, providing the stability we need to invest in our public services, which included significant increases in funding for our schools, our NHS and key infrastructure.  

 "During a pre-budget statement in July, we were informed that the previous Conservative Government had not allocated any funding to pay for stage 2 of the Restoring Your Railway programme, which included the Ivanhoe Line. The Chancellor made the decision to move the Restoring Your Railway projects into the comprehensive spending review being undertaken by the Transport Secretary, which is still in progress. Since July, I have held a number of conversations with Treasury and Transport colleagues, and I will be meeting the Rail Minister next week to continue discussing the way ahead. 

 "I'm full of admiration for the tireless campaigning by CRIL, and I have been grateful for the support Douglas has given to me and my team to build the case on behalf of residents and businesses in North West Leicestershire for the reinstatement of the Ivanhoe Line."

CRIL representative, Douglas McLay, has thanked the MP for her work in trying to keep the project alive despite the lack of funding.

The Ivanhoe Line did not get a mention in last week's budget speech delivered by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

However, a number of other schemes were given funding.

CRIL now says a new proposal will have to be made after the Derby extension scheme was abandoned.