'Reverse Beeching' rail plan for Kettering and Corby hits buffers

The east - west direct train line would have connected Kettering and Corby to places including Stamford and Peterborough
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A bid to reverse the Beeching cuts of the 1960s and create an east-west rail link from Kettering and Corby to Stamford and Peterborough has failed to to garner support from the Department for Transport.

The Welland Valley 'Beeching Reverse' rail link would have started at Kettering before calling at Corby, a new local station at Luffenham in Rutland, Stamford, Peterborough, Whittlesey, March with a new station being built at Wisbech.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Championing the new rail link was The Welland Valley Railway Development Community Interest Company (WVR) who submitted a bid to the Department for Transport's (DfT) Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund in December 2020.

The rail link would have used Harringworth viaduct 
The former South Luffenham station (thanks to John Turner of www.53amodels.co.uk for use of this photo)The rail link would have used Harringworth viaduct 
The former South Luffenham station (thanks to John Turner of www.53amodels.co.uk for use of this photo)
The rail link would have used Harringworth viaduct The former South Luffenham station (thanks to John Turner of www.53amodels.co.uk for use of this photo)

The plan was designed to reconnect stations using existing infrastructure with only three-and-a-half miles of new track needing to be laid between Seaton and Luffenham in Rutland.

But a bid for funding for a feasibility study has been declined by the DfT.

Owen O'Neill, chief technical officer of the Welland Valley Rail partnership, said: "We are disappointed and saddened to hear that our bid for feasibility study funding has not been successful.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We thought it would a super opportunity to improve public transport, given we had managed to gain support from all the local authorities and MPs who were all behind it.

The map of the proposed lineThe map of the proposed line
The map of the proposed line

"There are no more bidding rounds of the ‘Restoring Your Railway’ programme planned, so Welland Valley Rail will study the feedback and hope to work together with local authority partners to see if there are alternative routes to progress the project.

"The merits of the case for restoring lost connections in the Welland Valley area still stand, namely increased connectivity and shortened journey times.

"The project would greatly improve east-west transport across the region, between Kettering, Corby, Stamford, Peterborough and towards Wisbech, particularly for the many people who do not have access to a car."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In its feedback the DfT recognised that 'the proposal demonstrates credible transport benefits and will connect major towns/cities that are not connected by rail', had a large amount of support from local authorities, and could provide benefits to levelling up, but that the Dft would have liked to see further technical and commercial detail in the bid document.

Mr O'Neill added: "We will not be able to take this project forward - we are only a volunteer organisation so it's down to the local authorities now."

The full list of bids in round three can be found here. The list of successful projects announced can be found here.