'High speed rail link could benefit us'
The high speed rail link between London and Birmingham could still benefit Northampton passengers even though the 250mph trains will not stop in the county, an MP has said.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis confirmed that the 30 billion scheme would see upgraded tracks skirt by to the north of Brackley would not stop at any Northamptonshire station.
However Sally Keeble, the Labour MP for Northampton North and chair of the town's rail users' group, is optimistic that the plans can now open the door to faster train journeys from Castle Station.
She said: "We knew when the rail users group went to see Lord Adonis, before this announcement, that the high speed link would not benefit us directly but what we asked for is for some of the spare capacity for Northampton. We told him that as a fast-growing town and a designated growth area, we deserve more of the faster services than somewhere like Crewe for example.
"The service we have to Birmingham at the moment is pretty rubbish and that's what we told him."
Mrs Keeble said Lord Adonis seemed impressed and was keen on the proposal the rail users put to him, having expected them to argue for stops in Northamptonshire on the high speed line.
But the group pointed out to him that fast services from London to Scotland will no longer use the West Coast Mainline - the route that also connects Northampton to the capital and Birmingham - when the scheme gets underway in 2015, leaving spare slots that could easily be filled by fast trains serving Northampton.
The first part of the high speed route would start in 2017, cost between 15.8 billion and 17.4 billion and would reduce the journey time between the UK's two biggest cities to between 30 and 50 minutes.
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Weather for Northampton
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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