Nottinghamshire presses for MML to be prioritised

A letter signed by leaders of all four political groups on Nottinghamshire County Council is calling for assurance that no approval will be given for electrification of any additional routes before work starts on the Midland Main Line.

The letter to Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin says that any such ‘queue jumping’ “would be intolerable and counter to the declaration that works have been ‘paused’ rather than postponed”.

It asks that “the resumption date should be as early as possible, although we recognise that it may not be until electrification resources are released following completion of at least some of the works on the Great Western Main Line and in Lancashire”.

The letter also seeks to ensure that trackwork improvements at sites along the MML that have not been affected by the “pause” should continue and be delivered to the current schedule.

• For more on this story, read RAIL 782, published on September 2.