After many false starts, the long-awaited go-ahead for a station serving Coventry’s Ricoh Arena has been approved by Coventry City Council.
Work on the station, situated on the Coventry to Nuneaton route, will start this December and be finished for December 2013.
Lack of a rail connection to the popular sporting venue, which has been hosting Olympic football matches throughout the Games, has long been a contentious issue, with plans submitted and rejected over the years.
It was originally envisaged that the station would be opened six years ago, at the same time as Ricoh Arena, but this was rejected by the government at the time.
During events at Ricoh Arena there will be four trains an hour from Coventry and two trains an hour from Nuneaton. The station will also have its own car park with around 50 spaces.
The line between Coventry and Nuneaton is an important freight route, used mainly by container trains.
The government has completely missed the boat on this, approving the station DURING the Olympics, not 6 years before.