Rugby Forum - all welcome! Obviously as and when we get more local people interested and willing to be involved, we hope to upgrade to a hall-based meeting as resources may inform. However, for the time being we meet at the local Wetherspoons.
I attach a diagram showing the lines and links we are interested in. It is noteworthy that Rugby is central between Northampton and Coventry and Leicester and Leamington Spa, but there is a feeling that the central significance of the location and town has been overlooked, under-estimated and should indeed be restored as a main rail hub for local and regional rail connectivity and indeed environmentally, with more people and goods being lured and nurtured back onto the rail network.
It is interesting, however informed, that HS2 has a station gap between Solihull and Old Oak Common (OOC) (West London), some 100 miles. That is a lot of growth area development sprawl without access to any rail station within 5-10 miles drive-time. So more development of whatever kind, will revert to road and roads of any kind are jamming up progressively with rat-running across country to circumvent junctions and congestion on trunk roads and motorways - when the selling point for closing railways and building motorways was they would drain towns and rural areas of congestion!
We are not trying to rebuild every inch of old railway line, we want new 21st century design rail links which serve people, communities and forge better local access and linkages. Old routes have been compromised and the art now is a. to determine we wish to entertain the idea of restoration, b. then to help find resources to study options and solutions and c. if the case is robust, to pursue them incrementally or as part of a government-backed grand design for modal shift to reduce emissions, congestion and waste.
Arguably the link above shows what is also happening outside London and we know there is a need for more rail-based orbitals around London to link the South Coast and Channel Tunnel with the wider regions sustainably. We believe our suggestions, with realignments, new build and integration, could play a pivotal role.
Magna Park is one of the largest depots of its kind and generates significant traffic, but as yet has no rail link access. Likewise Lutterworth, a growing town with no rail link serving it. Much ado about traffic, trade and business between West and East Midlands, but whilst rails do exist, north-south Rugby/Northampton-Leicester as a gateway to wider East Midlands and East Coast via Peterborough, remains largely unappreciated.
There will always be objections whatever one seeks to do, but these need to be weighed in the round and that of the greater good. As UN Secretary General recently said at COP27
"And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. "
Whatever your views on Climate Change or Emergency, our rail ideas, which is what ERTA does - plant ideas - should be adopted and translated to policy to nurture towards fruition. Please consider what help you can give, like protecting land for enabling physical rail linkages in the Narborough and Rugby areas respectively.
East-West Rail (Oxford-Milton Keynes) is being built now. So that link will give access by rail to Oxford, Bristol and Southampton and all in between for example and them to potential audiences, if via our route (as West Coast Main Line has capacity issues), which would cut duration or freight and passenger journey times and boost regeneration, footfall and spend and cut emissions at one and the same time. In all cases, you have to start somewhere.
Copies of pdf agenda via requests to richard.erta@gmail.com
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