Labour councillors to demand council leader 'personally guarantees' plans for Ollerton and Edwinstowe rail line will go ahead

Proposals to reopen the Maid Marian Line and extend the Robin Hood Line were not guaranteed in the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) announcement last week, which also confirmed the scrapping of plans to build an HS2 hub at Toton.

Instead, the IRP merely made reference to proposals for both the Robin Hood and Maid Marian lines, with nothing that guaranteed either project would be happening.

The Robin Hood Line, between Nottingham and Worksop, via Mansfield and Ashfield, would be extended to serve Warsop, Ollerton and Edwinstowe, while the Maid Marian Line, a route between Pye Bridge and Kirkby currently only used by freight trains, would link the Robin Hood Line with the main Nottingham-Sheffield railway line.

Guarantee

Now, during the council’s full meeting today, Coun Mike Pringle, Labour deputy leader and member for Ollerton, is due to call on Coun Ben Bradley, council leader and Mansfield MP, to personally guarantee proposals for the lines will be acted upon.

Coun Pringle said: “We will be debating the Nottinghamshire Plan, which sets out this council’s vision for our residents for the next 10 years.

"We can’t achieve that alone, we need investment in infrastructure to make it happen and what was missing from last week’s rail plan announcement was the fact the precious local rail connections which are needed to connect some of the more cut-off villages to the rest of the county, namely the Robin Hood and Main Marian lines, have not had funding guaranteed to them yet.

“I’m calling on Coun Bradley to make this commitment to members and to the public, that the funding will be secured.

“I make no apologies for being somewhat parochial about this, for my residents in Ollerton, and on behalf of other communities who need that connectivity and frankly after years of underinvestment in public transport, deserve it.

“As Coun Bradley is both MP for Mansfield and leader of this council, I know he’ll want to make this commitment to our residents.”

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