East Midlands Parkway railway station

East Midlands Parkway railway station is located north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the Midland Main Line in the East Midlands of England. It provides park and ride facilities for rail passengers on the routes from to and . It is also the closest station to East Midlands Airport, some away, but without public transport link.
The station lies in southwest Nottinghamshire, about from the border with Leicestershire and from that with Derbyshire, between the stations at , and . When it opened, there was a little-used shuttle bus from the station to the airport, but this ceased not long afterwards. An hourly minibus service was re-introduced in 2015 but later withdrawn. The main station building and the 850-vehicle car park are to the west of the line, opposite Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. Road access is via the A453, which provides a link to the nearby (three-minute drive) M1 motorway.
The Midland Main Line is not electrified north of Bedford; therefore, all services are operated by diesel trains. This was set to change by 2019, when a scheme to electrify the remainder of the line had been due to be completed. This, along with increased line speeds, would have meant that the station would have been under 80 minutes from the capital. However, the electrification scheme was cancelled in 2017.
Description.
East Midlands Parkway is located near the village of Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, close to the River Trent where the boundaries of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire meet. Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station towers over the railway. The station is on the Midland Main Line, which runs from London to Nottingham and Sheffield, from the London terminus at . Just north of the station is Trent Junction, where the lines to Nottingham and Sheffield (via Derby) diverge. There are four platforms, two serving the western, "fast" lines, and two serving the eastern, "slow" lines.
Services.
Fears were raised by various bodies, notably East Midlands Airport, about the service pattern proposed for the new station.
Donington Park motor racing circuit is nearby, and its owners have expressed their desire for spectators to use the station or coach services when travelling to the circuit. The owners are also in support of any future light rail transport to East Midlands Airport itself.
All trains serving the station are operated by East Midlands Railway (EMR) using InterCity 125 (HST), Class 222 "Meridian", or Sprinter (Classes 153/156/158) rolling stock. The current service pattern from London sees two northbound trains per hour (one each to Sheffield and to Nottingham), which leave within seven minutes of each other, and two per hour to London, which leave within 10 minutes of each other. The local service between and via also calls here once each way every hour.
History.
Building work commenced on the new £25.5m station on 19 December 2007; it was due to be completed by 14 December 2008, but the station did not finally open until 26 January 2009.
The TOC (train operating company) Midland Mainline was, until October 2006, responsible for the project, which remained in the planning stages for several years for the want of a small piece of land needed for the project. Responsibility was then transferred to Network Rail which anticipated expenditure of £5m in 2006/07 and £8m in 2007/08.
In its first year of operation the station was used by over 250,000 passengers.
Controversy.
People in nearby towns, notably Loughborough, voiced their concerns that the opening of the station could lead to the reduction in the number of trains stopping there, although this was denied by former operator Midland Mainline. Another concern was the possible withdrawal of the existing bus service from Loughborough station to East Midlands Airport. In the event, a service from Loughborough to the airport (now extended to start from Leicester) is still running; however, since 25 April 2010, it has ceased to serve Loughborough railway station. As a result, there are no longer any direct late-night or early-morning bus services between the railway station and the town centre, with only a limited (every 40 minutes) service operating on Sundays.
First year.
To mark the first year of operation of the station, East Midlands Trains offered unlimited travel from the station for the day on Saturday 30 January 2010 under the promotional 'Red Dot Day' banner. The 850 space car park was full for the first time since the station opened and 2,787 passengers travelled. The station saw 182,412 journeys in its first full year of operation.
Criticism.
The station has been criticised as being poorly located. In 2011-12 East Midlands Parkway attracted just over one third of the projected annual passengers.
Facilities.
East Midlands Parkway is a staffed station with four platforms and a ticket office, which is open 06:00–19:30 on Mondays to Saturdays and 07:30–19:30 on Sundays. Other facilities include:
East Midlands Parkway is one of the greenest stations built in the United Kingdom. It uses a ground-source heating system that was built using locally sourced and recycled materials.
As of late 2009, East Midlands Parkway became a penalty fare station, so a valid ticket or permit to travel must be shown when requested.
Multi-modal.
From 30 March 2009, the station has been used as an interchange station for combined multi-modal journeys using Megabus-branded services run by Stagecoach (the operators of both East Midlands Trains and of Megabus). The "MegabusPlus" services transport passengers from cities in the north of England to East Midlands Parkway, where passengers transfer to rail for the service to London.
Routes operated under the MegabusPlus brand are to/from: