UK market town ‘transformed’ by £8.3m station and £1.3bn upgrade – these places are next

A UK has been “transformed” by a new £8.3million station on a reopened railway line, officials say. Services between and Corby in Northamptonshire began again for passengers in 2009, with trains calling at several stops, including Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton, and Luton Airport Parkway. Here, travellers can use the DART service direct to the terminal.

The rail was electrified in 2021, a project that cost £1.3billion. This meant a half-hourly service could then operate. As a result, passenger numbers have more than quadrupled from just fewer than 118,000 in 2009/10, to more than 498,000 in 2023/24. Now, local business and council leaders have said that this bodes well for a more than £7billion scheme connecting communities between Oxford and Cambridge.

These include Milton Keynes, Bedford, and Cambridge.

East West Rail is backed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as part of the Government’s plans for an Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor. 

“Corby has transformed,” Sean Rose, Head of Policy at Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, said. 

“We’ve got new businesses moving into the town, new people investing in Corby and that is what the railway can do.

“It can unlock levelling up that really makes a difference for businesses and the local economy.”

Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: “It was a massive impact. If you look at what that regeneration project has delivered, the railway station, you talk about the station quarter and all the building that’s going on there. 

“A railway station is crucial to the economy of any town or city. Doctor Beeching, in his wisdom, removed a lot of smaller branch lines, which wasn’t really a long-term vision that’s held this country where it should be. 

“So having more of these schemes in smaller towns and cities would be great.”