27/04/2009

Corby railway station in Northamptonshire was officially opened today (27 April 2009) by the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP.

The opening of the £8.3m station and transport interchange coincides with the start of East Midlands Trains' full timetable from Corby to London, which will see 13 direct services a day in each direction, calling at Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton.

Funding for Corby station has been provided by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), East Midlands Development Agency (emda), and Network Rail.

Representatives of East Midlands Trains, Corby Borough Council, Northamptonshire County Council, North Northants Development Company (NNDC) and Phil Hope, MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, who has campaigned for the return of the train over the last 10 years, also attended the station opening.

The Urban Regeneration Company NNDC, which is responsible for driving forward the sustainable expansion of the whole of North Northamptonshire, the single biggest growth area outside London, also assisted in the delivery of the infrastructure project.

After more than four decades without a direct passenger service to London, Corby is now just 1 hour and 14 minutes journey time from St Pancras International and 3½ hours from Paris – a significant boost for the on-going regeneration of the former steel town.

The orginal station closed in 1966 and direct services to London ceased in 1967. The new station, which is situated at Station Road, adjacent to the site of the old station, is designed to become the focus of a new integrated transport network serving residents and businesses in the revitalised Corby town centre and surrounding areas.

The new station provides full access for disabled passengers and also has bicycle parking facilities. In addition to parking for 140 cars, there are facilities for other forms of transport including a taxi rank and bus interchange.

The reintroduction of this rail service has the potential to unlock an estimated £200m of further commercial investment in the area, creating more than 1,200 retail and office jobs. A new, high-quality business zone incorporating town centre living is earmarked for land surrounding the station itself.

Geoff Hoon said: "Corby is one of the fastest growing towns in the UK and if this economic success is to continue good transport links are vital. I am delighted to be able to officially open this new railway station, which will provide direct services to London in just over an hour.

"The Government is committed to encouraging more passengers onto the rail network and that is why we are investing over £10 billion in enhancing capacity between now and 2014 with overall Government support totalling £15 billion."

Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, said: "We know just how much excitement and enthusiasm there is for our new train services between Corby and London and we are extremely proud to be the company bringing train services back to Corby for the first time since the 1960s.

"We would like to thank all the partners involved for their dedication and support in getting the services up and running, and we are confident that passengers will take full advantage of these new fast and frequent services."

Phil Hope MP said: "I am absolutely delighted that the people of Corby and the surrounding area will finally have the rail service they deserve. It has been a long and difficult journey and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who signed my petition and all the organisations who have worked so hard to achieve this goal. Corby has come a long way in the last 10 years and I believe this new rail service will help Corby to continue to go from strength to strength."

For further information on East Midlands Trains, visit eastmidlandstrains.co.uk.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1) For media enquiries, please contact 01738 442111.

2) East Midlands Trains' services comprise the existing Midland Mainline franchise that operates high speed long distance services from London St. Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham and the regional services operated by Central Trains between Nottingham and Derby – Lincoln – Cleethorpes – Skegness, between Derby and Crewe - Matlock and Norwich and Liverpool.

3) The franchise will run until 31 March 2015, the last year and four months of which will be conditional upon achieving pre-set performance targets.

4) Highlights of improvements include faster journey times from Sheffield and Leicester to London from 2008, better performance, more seats, train refurbishment, investment at Derby's Etches Park train maintenance depot, a centralized information and security centre, more car parking spaces and two new stations – at East Midlands Parkway and Corby.

5) East Midlands Trains is responsible for 89 stations, including the newly opened Corby and East Midlands Parkway stations, as well as Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield. Some 66,000 passengers travel with East Midlands Trains every day on 473 train services.

6) Stagecoach Group is a leading international transportation group, with extensive bus and rail operations in the UK and North America. Stagecoach operates South West Trains the UK's biggest commuter rail network with nearly 1,700 trains a day out of London Waterloo. In addition, Stagecoach has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group.