Nuneaton’s voice in Parliament, Marcus Jones, has recently held talks with the Rail Minister Claire Perry to get the NUCKLE rail project back on track.

Phase one of this important project began earlier this year when construction started on new stations at Bermuda and the Ricoh Arena. This initial part of the construction process was to be followed by the construction of a new platform at Coventry, new signaling and rolling stock to provide a twice hourly service between town and city.

The local MP, who in 2011 initially fought for funding to get the project off the ground, met with Ms Perry to raise concerns at the ongoing delay over the opening of the Bermuda and Ricoh stations. Marcus also raised concern about the provision of trains to the Ricoh Arena on match days and the Hendy Review, which put into question the funding for the completion of the project.

Following the meeting the local MP has now received confirmation that the new stations should be opened imminently, following talks with Network Rail. Confirmation has also been received that the £5million of Government funding for the completion of the project will be honoured.  

Commenting, Marcus said: “This project is vital for our area. This is a project that was talked about for years under the last Labour Government, but in reality the starting gun was not fired until 2012. Since then technical and funding difficulties have blighted the project, but progress is finally now being made and I look forward to seeing these stations opened.

“I am particularly pleased that the Department for Transport has confirmed that the £5m contribution via Network Rail has been confirmed following the comprehensive review conducted recently by Sir Peter Hendy.

“That confirmation should end a great deal of uncertainty about this project and means we can now set our sights on finally completing this important scheme.

“The Minister was sympathetic to my concern over matchday services to the Ricoh and I will continue to press for a full service from Nuneaton to the Ricoh Arena on matchdays”