PLANS for a second train station in Rugby have been put on ice after funding could not be raised.
Warwickshire County Council (WCC) voted in 2015 to build the Rugby Parkway station off the A428 Crick Road, on vacant land between existing housing and the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).
But the £11million station, which was due to begin construction last month and be completed by the end of 2019, has been shelved after a deadline to secure funding passed.
WCC was to contribute £2m toward the project, with £4million coming from the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s (CWLEP) Growth Deal fund.
But WCC’s bid to secure the remaining £5million from the government’s New Stations Fund failed – leading to CWLEP withdrawing its share.
Minutes from a CWLEP meeting state: “The CWLEP Programme Delivery Board had agreed to hold funding until August 31 2018, at which point match funding would need to be confirmed by the applicant.
“At this meeting, WCC confirmed the £4million will not be spent within the prescribed timetable and will be returned to the central pot for reallocation.”
The station was to connect to the Northampton loop of the West Coast Mainline and run two to three trains per hour to Birmingham, Northampton, the West Midlands, London and the rest of the UK.
It was proposed to serve the new housing development at Houlton, where up to 6,200 homes are being built, and commuters to and from the expanding DIRFT.
A spokeswoman for WCC and CWLEP said the funding was withdrawn because the deadline had passed, but similar funding could become available in the future.
She said: “It was not appropriate to earmark money from this round of Growth Deal funding. The county council needs to secure the other sources of funding and then work with the LEP to put the remaining finances in place.
“Both the county council and the LEP have the same aspirations for building a station at Rugby Parkway and it is something that everyone wants to see in the future.
“The station will provide a sustainable travel option for this side of Rugby, but it should be recognised that the housing development is in the very early stages.
“Having delivered four parkways and a town station in recent years, the council has proved itself a very capable partner in providing rail stations and we all look forward to work starting on this project as soon as we can guarantee all the funding.”
Stephanie Clifford, chair of Rugby Rail Users’ Group (RRUG), predicted the project would be revived.
She said: “WCC are convinced that a new station is a good idea, so I think we will see this proposal again – maybe when HS2 takes the pressure off the line.
“Rugby railway is already near to full capacity, so fitting in an extra stop at Houlton will be tricky, and the expansion of DIRFT means more freight trains too.
“Add to that the long delays to the new station at Kenilworth, and it looks like bad timing for another new development – but this one will be back, I predict.”
The £13.6million Kenilworth Station opened in April – four months later than expected.
Just days before the scheduled opening in December, the Department for Transport (DfT) said no trains or drivers would be available until February.
There was a further delay as Warwickshire County Council prepared a safety report for the rail regulator at the Office for Road and Rail.
