CHAMBER NEWS
HS2 East campaign’s letter to PM Boris Johnson backed by Chamber
A letter to the Prime Minister calling for the full delivery of the HS2 Eastern Leg to be built has been backed by the Chamber. The HS2 East campaign group
has written to Boris Johnson urging the Government to commit to Phase 2b of the high-speed rail project, which will run from Birmingham to Leeds, via a new East Midlands hub station in Toton, Nottinghamshire.
‘By connecting the region with a first- class UK and Europe- wide rail network, it will bring enormous opportunities to local firms’
It has received more than 50
signatures from cross-party MPs, council leaders and business leaders, including the Chamber’s chief executive Scott Knowles and president Dawn Edwards.
HS2 could unlock £4bn in economic benefits for the East Midlands
Chamber chief executive Scott
Knowles said: “HS2 is the single- biggest transport infrastructure project in a generation and represents a huge opportunity for businesses, with the potential to unlock economic benefits of more than £4bn for the East Midlands
Ivanhoe railway line campaign gets Chamber backing
A campaign to reopen a passenger railway line between Burton upon Trent and Leicester has been backed by the Chamber as it begins to engage businesses in the project. The Campaign for Reopening the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL) has led a
movement to restore the 31-mile line, which was sacrificed in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the Beeching Cuts – when British Railways chairman Dr Richard Beeching closed thousands of stations and hundreds of branch lines to make the nationalised railways profitable again. In May this year, the Government announced a £500,000 fund to help
conduct feasibility studies on whether 10 routes could be reopened, including the Ivanhoe Line – with stations proposed in towns and villages such as Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville and Moira.
‘Although we have just started to engage with industry, early feedback is positive, with Amazon and the National Forest Company among those stepping up to support the campaign’
The CRIL, which has the backing of authorities including North West
Leicestershire District Council, has now begun to engage with businesses along the line to strengthen its case –with the Chamber now urging members in those areas to get involved. The CRIL aims to build focused groups of the companies that may
benefit from their location around one of the eight proposed stations – which are in Drakelow & Stapenhill, Castle Gresley, Moira, Ashby-de-la- Zouch, Coalville, Ellistown, Meynell’s Gorse and Leicester South. It has recruited Stacey Ash, who has more than 30 years’ experience in investment management, as a business liaison manager. He has started to
26 business network November 2020
engage with relevant companies to explain the benefits a station can bring, both to commercial operations and surrounding communities.
Benefits to businesses highlighted by the CRIL include: • Improved journey times across the region • Better connectivity via national rail routes • Better access for customers and employees • Regeneration of the area around the station • Creating a healthier environment
Stacey said: “Although we have just started to engage with industry,
early feedback is positive, with Amazon and the National Forest Company among those stepping up to support the campaign, and we hope this will snowball as we start to get the message further afield. Engaging with members of the Chamber is a natural route for us to follow as part of this process and we hope members will be keen to lend their support.” Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “Reopening this historic
railway line would provide a major boost to the economy for the many communities along the route by opening up further connections with the rest of the region and country.”
CRIL wants to speak to businesses that are willing to lend their support to the project for the region. Interested parties can contact Stacey Ash at
crilbusinessliaison@gmail.com. For more information on the CRIL, visit
www.ivanhoeline.org
and part of Yorkshire. “By connecting the region with
a first-class UK and Europe-wide rail network, it will bring enormous opportunities to local firms and make the East Midlands a much more attractive location for inward investment.
“It was an important milestone
when HS2 Phase One work begun recently, but if the Government is serious about it’s ‘levelling up’ agenda, then it must push on and confirm the rest of the proposed network in full to deliver those benefits as soon as possible.”
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