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For other uses, see Ivanhoe (disambiguation).

The Ivanhoe line was a local passenger service on the Midland Main Line between Leicester and Loughborough. After three intermediate stations were re-opened in 1993, services operated until June 2005. Intermediate stations on the route are now served by East Midlands Railway‘s hourly service between Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln.

Operation

After the initial phase of the Ivanhoe line was completed in the mid 1990s it was originally planned that phase two would extend the line west to Burton-on-Trent on the freight-only Leicester and Swannington Railway via Coalville Town and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. In 2006 the Conservative Party released a proposal for reopening the line. However the extension was never started. One station on the Derby–Birmingham main line, Willington, past the western (Burton) end of the route, was constructed in the mid 1990s with Ivanhoe branding and blue livery. However, as a result of the failure of the Burton upon Trent–Leicester development, it remains isolated from the Ivanhoe line.

A similar anomaly lies at the eastern Leicester end of the line, along the Leicester-Loughborough main line, where three stations were reopened as a planned during the first phase of full reopening:

Barrow and Sileby each have two platforms (with limited access for disabled passengers), but Syston has a single platform serving both directions. Syston station will be rebuilt around 2013 during a Leicester area re-signalling scheme[1] as part of Network Rails Route Utilisation Strategy for freight.[2]

In June 2005 the Leicester-Loughborough passenger service was officially withdrawn due to service changes. A report published in December 2008 assumed that the total number of passenger journeys would be 150,000 per annum, each paying an average of £3.15 per journey.[3]

Reopening

In June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies recommended reopening of the line to passenger services with stations at Kirby Muxloe, Bagworth, Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Moira and Gresley.[4] ATOC estimated that the capital cost at £49 million, the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) to be 1.3 and the BCR excluding capital costs to be 2.9.[5] Leicestershire County Council again[vague] ruled out the proposal, claiming it would cost a £4 million annual subsidy. Previous reports had suggested the subsidy required would be far less, and that after the initial investment the line would make money.[6]

East Midlands Parkway railway station has now been built on the route. The Borough of Charnwood‘s local plan of 2004 anticipates a station at Thurmaston.[7]

In 2022 the closed section of the line was one of nine schemes chosen to undergo a feasibility scrutiny by Network Rail as part of the government’s Restoring Your Railway programme. If approved, work could start in 2024 and the line reopened in 2026.[8]

On 4 October 2023, the government included reopening the line as part of its Network North scheme.[9] However, in April 2026, news emerged that the western section of the line between Mantle Lane in Coalville and Burton upon Trent is set to be mothballed. [10]

In February 2026 plans to reopen the line were considered officially “dead”.[11]

References

  1. ^ “East Midlands”. Network Rail. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  2. ^ “Route Utilisation Strategy > Freight”. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  3. ^ “A blow to Ivanhoe hopes”. Leicester Mercury. 3 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  4. ^ Connecting Communities; Expanding Access to the Rail Network. London: Association of Train Operating Companies. 2009. p. 19.
  5. ^ ATOC, op. cit., 2009, page 16
  6. ^ “Re-opening rail line ‘too costly’“. Leicester Mercury. 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009.
  7. ^ “Chapter 7: Transport and Traffic Management, Rail 7.65” (PDF). Charnwood Borough Council Local Plan. 2004. p. 135. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. ^ Harby, Jennifer (29 October 2022). “Plan to reopen Ivanhoe Line backed by businesses”. BBC News. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  9. ^ “Network North” (PDF). Department for Transport. 4 October 2023. p. 32. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  10. ^ Stubbings, David. “Section of Ivanhoe Line to be mothballed by Network Rail”. Rail magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  11. ^ “Councillor says bid to restore rail line is ‘dead’“. BBC NEWS. 5 February 2026.