Ivanhoe Line campaigners say re-opening the route to Coalville is 'relatively straightforward' - but explained why the connection to Leicester will take longer to achieve.

Network Rail announced last month that the line - if re-opened to passenger traffic - would go no further than Coalville and instead connect to Derby rather than Leicester.

That caused some surprise locally, with supporters of the line assuming it would run from Burton to Leicester.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak even referenced those two towns when talking about re-opening the line when he spoke at the recent Conservative Party Conference.

But Douglas McLay, of the Campaign to Re-open the Ivanhoe Line, has given a detailed response to the announcement that Coalville to Derby would be the first stage.

He said in a message to the campaign's Facebook page: "Re-opening the line to Coalville is relatively straightforward and can be achieved within the Restore Your Railway timeframes and budget.

"The prospects of this being approved and funded are good, especially following the Prime Minister's recent announcement.

The level crossing at Coalville. Photo: Instantstreetview.com

"The extension to Leicester South is also possible to achieve but not within the RYR timetable and budget.

"The connection into the mainline station is a longer term job because of the extensive preparation time to acquire land and the need to synchronise the work with the planned, but as yet unfunded, upgrade to the Midland Mainline."

He added that CRIL remains determined to get the whole line reopened.

But Mr McLay added: "However, we do not want to jeopardise the partial re-opening by delaying the work with a controversy about it.

"This partial re-opening will provide a focus for the ongoing campaign and real life evidence of the benefits of a passenger railway service in the corridor.

"We plan to use the Prime Minister's statement as a lever to push for a phased implementation of the re-opening, while the first phase is implemented."

Mr McLay gave a detailed explanation of what is being planned next.

He added: "The Department for Transport announcement that it was going to concentrate on the re-opening of the Burton to Coalville section of the Ivanhoe Line by instigating a Derby to Coalville service, caused a lot of discussion and raised many questions about the what, why and when.

"We believe that the partial re-opening of the line could be the catalyst to get the whole line re-opened. Something is better than nothing.

"The Restoring Your Railways Programme (RYR) is an opportunity to get Government funding for re-opening the line. Frankly, it is difficult to see where else we could have raised the funding from.

"Our local councils, whilst very supportive of the scheme, are in no position to fund it.

"Matters are further complicated by the fact that the line serves the areas of four Tier 1 local authorities.

"The RYR programme is a political initiative. Like it or not, such political initiatives from governments of all colours come with political objectives which must be achieved to release funding.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Ivanhoe Line will be re-opened. Photo © Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

"The RYR Programme is a levelling up initiative and, as such, the Government wants to invest in schemes which will be underway - on a firm timetable to deliver specified benefits - before the next election. 

"After the whole HS2 experience, all Government programmes must have a high level of certainty that they can be delivered within the allocated budget.

"So for the Ivanhoe Line to be included in the RYR programme it must demonstrate that what is planned can be delivered in the required timescale and within the available budget."

Mr McLay then explained why the line would go to Derby, rather than stopping at Burton or being extended to Leicester.

He said: "The costs and benefits of opening a passenger service from Derby to Coalville are well understood and Network Rail has a good level of confidence that these can be delivered within the required timeframe and available budget.

"The work on the line is limited in scope because the line is already double tracked - apart from the single track bridge over the A42 - and it is so lightly used that closing it for the duration of the work is possible.

"This would mean it can be carried out very efficiently.

"The extension to Derby minimises the amount of work required at Burton station because turnarounds, crew changing and train stabling would be carried out at Derby where such facilities already exist.

"It is useful to consider the extension from Coalville to Leicester in two parts.

"Firstly there is the section from Coalville to Leicester South - the proposed station near the King Power Stadium - and finally the restoral of the Knighton North Curve and the run into Leicester Main Line via the Midland Mainline."

He then explained the potential link between Coalville and Leicester South, adding: "The first part is quite well understood, however the work is more complex than the Burton to Coalville section.

"This is because the existing line is single track and it will need to be realigned and doubled.

"There is enough freight traffic running from the quarries to the mainline to prevent Network Rail from closing the line for an extended period which will put up the cost and the time taken to carry it out.

"These factors mean that this could not be achieved within the RYR timescales and budget.

"The third part from Leicester South into Leicester Mainline is both the shortest and the most difficult part.

"There are two things to consider. Firstly, the restoral of the North Curve at Knighton, and secondly the connection to the mainline. 

"The restoral of the North Curve will require the acquisition of the old track bed and then restoring the formation and laying the track. It's not far. The freehold of the old track bed land is now owned by Leicester City Council.

"The land is leased out to a property agent who built the light industrial units which are on the site.

"The new police station car park does impinge on the track at an extreme corner, but there is plenty of scope to replace the lost car parking spaces if the other tenants are relocated.

"In short, it is do-able at reasonable cost, but the acquisition of the land could be a lengthy process.

"The connection to the Midland Main Line (MML) is more problematic. In our Strategic Outline Business Case Submission, we identified that the Midland Mainline would need to be realigned to allow an additional track to be restored for the run into Leicester Mainline Station.

"This would be an expensive task and cause huge disruption over a considerable period. Very difficult to justify.

"However we are aware that there is a proposed scheme to remodel the approaches to the southern end of the station as part of increasing MML capacity and/or the electrification of the MML through Leicester.

"The scheme design we have seen would enable our requirements to be met by a small modification to this scheme. 

Photo: CRIL

"The most realistic solution to the issue would seem to be to implement the restoral of the Knighton Curve and connect it to the MML when the realignment takes place."

Mr McLay then referenced the Prime Minister's conference speech.

He said: "In his recent speech to the Conservative Party conference the Prime Minister announced that the Ivanhoe Line would be reopened from Burton to Leicester.

"We understand that this means that if the Full Business Case supports the scheme from Derby to Coalville then Network Rail would have the funding to reopen in 2025/26. 

At this stage it is unclear what the announcement means for the full re-opening to Leicester.

"However, for the reasons explained above, CRIL is clear that the scope of work to re-open beyond Coalville is significant, irrespective of whether the necessary funding becomes available this work could not be completed in the RYR timeframes.

"The promise made in the speech to implement a Midlands Railway Hub seems to include schemes which would require the realignment of the MML south of Leicester.

"However, it may be that a phased approach will be adopted so the current scheme is delivered as described above and that further Development Stages are started for the work needed to re-open all the way to Leicester mainline.

"This would give the full re-opening some status in Government and Network Rail, and provide a focus for CRIL's future campaigning."