New �25m station officially opens

The station took 10 years to plan and �25m to build

A new �25m railway station near East Midlands Airport is due to be officially opened.

East Midlands Parkway station at Ratcliffe on Soar was due to open on 14 December but will now open on Monday.

It was hit by delays after residents called for a 300m access road to be formally adopted as a public highway.

It is hoped the new station will encourage more people to use public transport and will be served by 100 train services a day.

Trains to and from London will run every 15-20 minutes at peak times.

Green travel

The station - owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains - will also include a park-and-ride terminal for Leicester, Derby and Nottingham.

Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route director, said: "East Midlands Parkway signifies our commitment to improving the rail network and providing high quality accessible stations.

"It is a great facility which provides new choices for passengers and will tempt motorists from the nearby M1 to use a greener form of travel and aims to reduce congestion in nearby city centres."

The new station has four platforms, step-free access and 850 parking spaces. It also uses a ground-heat system as well as locally sourced and recycled materials.

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