Plans to make Peterborough to Ely rail service a community rail service, giving passengers a greater say
Ely Station - Credit: Archant
Passengers are set to have more say over rail services in North Cambridgeshire.
Under plans announced by Rail Minister Claire Perry, the government intends to designate the 29-mile route between Peterborough and Ely - known as the Hereward line - as a community rail service.
This would allow the community to design train services according to its needs, which will help increase passenger numbers, improve the service and boost the economy.
An eight week public consultation on the plans runs until midnight on Friday September 25.
Rail Minister Claire Perry said: “We know how important this line is to local communities in the rural Fenland area, and it’s right that passengers have a bigger say in shaping its future.
“By designating the Hereward line as a community rail service, we can breathe new life into this route, ensure its long term future, and improve connections that will help grow the local economy.”
If the plans go ahead, the train companies will continue to operate the service – which also calls at Whittlesey, March and Manea – with the support of the Hereward Community Rail Partnership. Infrastructure such as track and signalling would remain under the authority of Network Rail.
Most Read
- 1 Police 'increasingly concerned' for man missing since early hours yesterday
- 2 Three rail and bus strikes in London and the East this week
- 3 Product sold at Tesco recalled due to risk of disease-causing bacteria
- 4 Man, 28, dies after truck and lorries crash on A47
- 5 Andre Rieu brings new summer concert to Cambridgeshire cinemas
- 6 Two combine harvesters catch fire in under 12 hours
- 7 Unauthorised encampments across Cambs a 'tricky issue' says Police and Crime Commissioner
- 8 £150,000 splashpad to open in Wisbech
- 9 NHS staff praised for ‘virtually eliminating’ long waiting times
- 10 How you can treat and prevent heatstroke in your pets
Community Rail Partnerships are made up of local councils, community groups and other volunteers, to decide how lines should be run.
Nineteen rail lines around the country have been designated as community lines since 2005, along with a further twenty as community rail services since 2005.
These include the Wherry Lines services between Norwich, Yarmouth and Lowestoft, which were designated in February 2007, and the East Suffolk Lines between Ipswich, Felixstowe and Lowestoft, designated as community rail services in February 2015.