The National Memoral Arboretum at Alrewas, set in 150 acres of maturing woodland, is the UK’s living Centre of Remembrance.
Derby Passenger Service Petition:
A Station for the National Memorial Arboretum
A direct railway line leads from Lichfield to Burton and Derby but has no regular passenger trains, being used as a freight and diversionary route.
(Passenger services which had run since the 1840s—it was Lichfield’s first railway—were a victim of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s.)
We now believe that it is time to restart this service.
- Nationally, we have seen a massive move from road to rail, with rail passenger travel up by 50% in the last ten years alone.
- The A38 is one of the busiest and most dangerous roads in the country and a parallel rail service would alleviate this.
- The National Memorial Arboretum has been a fantastic success, with hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the country who cannot get there by public transport. This line runs alongside the NMA, and a new station at Alrewas would serve the Arboretum as well as the village, and serve as a “park and ride” station for a wide area.
For these reasons, we want to see hourly trains from Lichfield at least to Derby (for connections throughout the north), preferably continuing to Nottingham.
We have had encouraging meetings with Network Rail, local Councils and other stakeholders. Now, more pressure is needed: if you agree this project would be good not only for Lichfield and area, but for the nation as a whole, please add your name to our petition.
February 2022 Update
A recent meeting between Wendy Morton (Rail Minister and MP for Aldridge / Brownhills), Michael Fabricant (MP for Lichfield), Malcolm Holmes (Executive Director of West Midlands Rail Executive) and Philippa Rawlinson (Managing Director of the National Memorial Arboretum) expressed strong support for regular passenger services being restored to the Lichfield to Burton route, with an intermediate station to serve the Arboretum and Alrewas.
Our group has also received a letter of support from Lichfield District Tourist Association, which can be read here.
Our petition for a passenger service to Derby has 568 signed-up supporters
I support the campaign by the Lichfield Rail Promotion Group for a passenger train service between Lichfield and Derby, with a new station at Alrewas to serve the National Memorial Arboretum.
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