THE NEXT train at Kenilworth Station will not be arriving on time.
The town’s new £12million station was set to open on Sunday (December 10) but despite being completed there will be no trains available to operate on the line running between Leamington and Coventry until February.
Monica Fogarty, Warwickshire County Council’s joint managing director, said: “The hugely disappointing news is that the Department for Transport (DfT) has not been able to meet the same pace as the Council. The DfT tells us there will be no train service until February.
“The department is unable to supply the train and drivers in order to meet the December opening date, and this is beyond disappointing for the people of Kenilworth
“The county council so wanted to be able to deliver as promised on this exciting scheme for Kenilworth and we share your disappointment. That said, two more months, having waited 53 years is not long, and it will be worth the wait.
“I want Kenilworth to know that your council, county councillors and MP have all worked until the last minute to try to persuade the DfT to deliver and it is such a shame that this has not proved possible.”
“On the positive side and looking to the future, we are weeks away from having a new service.
“The station looks fantastic and true to the design which the Kenilworth people voted for. It is a station much deserved by Kenilworth and after 20 plus years of battling we are on the brink of a change which will support the continuing economic prosperity of the town.
“The council would like to thank the people of Kenilworth for their patience and understanding during the period of disruption whilst we worked around the clock to get the station ready for early December.”
Details of service operation will be made available shortly.
The DfT New Station Fund contributed £5million to the total cost of the Kenilworth Station project, with the remainder of the funding being provided by local transport bodies and the county council.
The new Station Road station – on the site of the town’s former station which closed in 1965 as part of the so-called Beeching Cuts – will also include a ticket office, 90-space car park and cycle parking.
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