Evidence is needed before South Lincolnshire can expect to see its transport links improved.
That was the clear message to come out of the first Lincolnshire Transport Conference, held in Spalding on October 23. The theme was Connecting South Lincolnshire, but delegates heard that there should be no expectation of investment without substantiated lobbying from stakeholders.
Senior managers from East Midlands Trains and Lincolnshire County Council made the point that evidence was a must in order to form a compelling argument.
East Midlands Trains customer service and commercial director Neil Micklethwaite urged people to work together to attract further Department for Transport investment for the region, in the face of strong opposition from other areas.
He said: “We have got to get the best possible case. If we have got no evidence, we won’t get it. So stakeholders, MPs, local authorities have to pull together because I can guarantee you they are in Scotland and Devon.
“We can facilitate for you but we need the feedback from local regions.”
East Midlands Trains – rated as Britain’s most punctual long-distance train operator – will benefit from around £13m of investment under a new agreement between Stagecoach Group and the Department for Transport (DfT) which saw a new franchise start on Monday and run until at least March 2018. The DfT has the option to extend the contract by up to one year.
Mr Micklethwaite said: ”We’re pretty excited about the future. We want to be here into the next decade at least.
“We desperately need more capacity. Our local services are absolutely packed to the rafters. We need more rolling stock for all routes on the East Midlands Trains franchise area.”
The conference heard details of Virgin East Coast’s future Lincoln-London rail service, but the trains are not due to pass through South Holland.
District council vice-chairman Rodney Grocock told Virgin East Coast commercial director Suzanne Donnelly: “We’re always the bridesmaids and never the brides.
“A lot of people would use more rail services if they were available. I do feel that Virgin, with its scale and scope, could offer a lot more to the people of South Holland.”
The conference was organised by Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum and Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce, whose president Phil Scarlett summed up with: “We have suffered from transport problems and we want them sorted. We need to talk the area up. We are the kitchen of England and we need to talk it up.”
He vowed that the two bodies would continue lobbying for investment, adding: “Moaning about not having it isn’t going to make it happen.”
