Midlands Connect believes that if the rail link is constructed between Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham 3,000 roles will be created during the lifetime of the construction and in the supply chain.
This peaks in 2031 at around 850 and averages at around 400 every year. The majority of the roles predicted are skilled occupations in engineering, operatives or project management.
The company also believes 70 apprentices could be recruited and trained over the course of the programme.
A spokesman said: “Over the course of the seven-year project, linking Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham by rail could generate an additional £68m in economic value as a result of jobs created in both of the Midlands, and nearly £11m in Social Value benefits – which include environmental benefits, wellbeing benefits and social benefits. This is on top of the traditional transport and wider economic benefits outlined in the business case, which amounted to £170m at the last update.
“Journey times along the route would be cut significantly, with trips from Coventry to Leicester falling from 54 to as low as 30 minutes, with trips from Coventry to Nottingham falling to around 65 minutes. Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway could also have new, direct and more frequent links to Coventry.”
Currently, just 3% of trips between Coventry and Leicester are made by train; compared to 30% of journeys made between Coventry and Birmingham.
Average speeds for trains between Coventry and Leicester currently fall under 30mph, compared to average speeds of over 100mph for trains from Coventry to London.
Andrew Clark, Integrated Transport Programme Lead at Midlands Connect said: “This project is so much more than just a rail scheme, it will create high-skilled and high-paid jobs, grow our economy and kick-start careers, thanks to the creation of apprenticeship roles.
At the moment it can take up to 70 minutes to travel less than 25 miles between Coventry and Leicester, and passengers have to change trains halfway – it’s simply not good enough – our plans will fix that and link key Midland cities, once and for all.”
Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor of Leicester said: “This project is a priority for the Council. It will allow people to travel easily between Leicester and Coventry. Only 3% use the train now as there is no direct service, leading to high car use, on congested roads.
“The creation of high-skilled, high-paid jobs, is a bonus, as is the creation of apprenticeship roles, kick-starting careers. This all helps to deliver a stronger economy as well as social value benefits to our local community.”
