As a result of the decision to scrap the extension of HS2, every region will now receive investment in the modes of transport that matter to you most, says the Government.
East Midlands
- Increased rail capacity: The number of trains between Leicester and Birmingham will be doubled from two to four per hour.
- £1.5 billion for East Midlands City Region Mayor: Transforming transport for 2.2 million people living in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This is an average of almost £1000 for everyone in the two counties. The new Combined Authority could use the funding to extend the Nottingham Tram system to serve Gedling and Clifton South and connect Derby to East Midlands Parkway with a Bus Rapid Transit System.
- Reopening Beeching Line stations: Including the Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton, connecting 250,000 people across South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire, with new stations en route.
- Funding for the Barrow Hill Line: Between Chesterfield and Sheffield Victoria, with a new station at Staveley in Derbyshire.
- Contactless and smart ticketing: £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support contactless or smartcard payment.
- Fixing two major pinch points on the A5: Funding a stretch of road between Hinckley and Tamworth, linking the M1 and M6, that serves more than one million people. Funding will also be provided for improvements to the A50/500 corridor between Stoke and Derby, cutting congestion for the 90,000 drivers who use the road each day and ensuring smoother journeys for drivers and freight around Rolls Royce, Toyota, Magna Park, and other major local employers.
- Midlands Road Fund worth nearly £650 million: Launched for new roads.
- £2.2 billion fund to transform local transport: Available in every part of the Midlands outside the mayoral combined authority areas and the new East Midlands combined authority – rural counties such as Shropshire, smaller cities like Leicester and towns such as Evesham.
- £250m will fully fund ten smaller road schemes in the Midlands: Including the A509 Isham Bypass, near Kettering, and the A43 between Northampton and Kettering.
- £2.2 billion for potholes: Funding for the Midlands to combat the potholes causing misery for drivers.
- £230 million for more bus services: Increasing frequency throughout the Midlands and the popular £2 bus fare will also be extended until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.
- The East Midlands will get a brand new the City Regional Sustainable Transport settlement of over £1.5 billion as it embarks its new status as a Combined Authority next year.
