Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the proposals to build a railway station at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry; what discussions she has had with Coventry city council on the proposals; and what estimate she has made of the cost of the establishment of such a station.

Mr. Tom Harris: It is for the local authority to develop a proposal for a new station which is deliverable, affordable and has a business case. Discussions took place over three years ago following a report which was submitted to the Strategic Rail Authority. The report concluded that the business case was low and there were questions over its deliverability.

The Department would consider any further work showing that such a station was feasible, fundable and offered value for money.

Here is an interesting link that refers to Bedworth station and the Coventry - Nuneaton line / service.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/hstnuneaton/railroundup/entries/346

Quotes from the above link.

"In 1850, the Coventry - Nuneaton line was opened, originally for freight owing to the large amount of coal reserves but eventually, passenger services began operating, with stations at Chilvers Coton, Bedworth, Longford, Foleshill, Daimler Halt and Coundon Road."

"In 1963, the then chairman of the newly-founded BR, Doctor Richard Beeching produced his report on the future of Britains Railways. Innocuously titled "The Reshaping of Britain's Railways", the report still remains one of the most controversial documents ever produced on a British industry. Tasked by the government to reduce the ever increasing losses suffered by the railway, Beeching took a root-and-branch analysis of every rail line which was still operational at the time. The end result was the "axe" -  the decision to close vast swathes of the railway network. This report affected Nuneaton in a big way, stations at Nuneaton Abbey Street and Stockingford closed in 1964 and all Leicester - Birmingham services were routed via the Trent Valley Station. The next blow came on 18 January 1965, when the Coventry - Nuneaton line closed to passengers."

"On a happier note, the Coventry - Nuneaton line reopened to passengers in 1988, and Bedworth Station was reconstructed as a shortened platform to accomodate a 2-car Diesel Unit. In 2005 though, a single car Class 153 is more common on this shuttle."

"Nuneaton Station has remained largely unchanged, although in 2004, Nuneaton seen major remodelling work finished whereby 2 new platforms were opened, designated Platform 6&7, which are specifically for Leicester - Birmingham trains, which enable them to use the reinstated flyover from the "Nuneaton avoiding line" and thus eliminating the need for trains to cross the main on the level and holding up the faster Anglo-Scottish and London - North West expresses operated by Virgin Trains. This did come at a price -  the popular Coventry - Nottingham service was cut back to form a basic Coventry - Nuneaton shuttle. However, due to driver training on the newer Class 350 Desiro units, the Coventry - Nueaton shuttle was replaced with a bus from 11 June 2004 until 13 June 2005. Unit number, 153365 ran the first Coventry -Nuneaton service on Monday 13 June 2005 (see picture 1). It is satisfying to note however, that this shuttle service is well patronised, being cheaper and indeed faster then the usual bus services provided by Stagecoach."

Here are some other facts about Bedworth station and the Coventry - Nuneaton Line.

1) Bedworth appears as a blue dot on Map 3 of the original Beeching Report (£5000 - £25000 per annum) yet it both appeared on the closure list and was indeed closed.

2) The Coventry - Nuneaton line is projected to achieve high - level tonnage growth to 2015. (Page 10 , figure 9 of the link below.)
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3115_Route%2017%20West%20Midlands.pdf

Here is a link to the West Midlands Franchise Consultation Document.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_611835.pdf

Page 29 of the link above.

Coventry – Nuneaton.

"This service does not currently have a community rail partnership in place and patronage may have been affected as a result of recent periods of bus replacement."