Over the past couple of months, the Heart of England Community Rail Partnership has worked with local schools and communities to inspire suggestions for a new name for the railway line between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa. This is a key rail line linking North and South Warwickshire with Coventry, where there are many fantastic attractions that we want to shine a light on.
From over 200 individual suggestions, the shortlisting panel, made up from representatives from Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, West Midlands Rail Executive, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains, and Chiltern Railways, had the unenviable task of picking three names for the shortlist.
The partnership says it has had an incredible response to the competition with suggestions being entered by school students, rail enthusiasts, volunteers, and members of the local community. A special mention must go to students at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Leamington and Little Heath Primary School in Coventry as their students suggested some beautiful names including The Adventure Line, Respect and Love Line, and The Elephant Express.
The Nuneaton – Leamington Line is unique in the fact that it is the only whole line that serves Warwickshire and Coventry and there are so many amazing places and opportunities across it, that the partnership want a line name that creates of identity. The panel chose names that have regional significance and that can inspire people who live along the line and those coming to visit the area to use the railways to explore one of the many attractions along the way.
The three names are:
Coventry & Warwickshire Line
This says exactly what this line is. A simple name, like the Cross-City line in Birmingham which runs north-south through Birmingham. This line runs north-south through Coventry connecting the city to North and South of Warwickshire.
Elephant & Bear Line
This name refers to the symbols of Coventry and Warwickshire. This is the only railway line that only serves the two areas and the elephant and bear have cultural and historical significance along the line.
Pioneer Line
The line has a history of local pioneers e.g. George Eliot in Nuneaton, Lady Godiva in Coventry, Frank Whittle – born in Coventry and educated in Leamington. This line name celebrates the lives and works of the many amazing pioneers that have come from Warwickshire and Coventry.
You can vote at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/M63ZJ3K Voting closes at midday on Saturday 10th June and we will announce the winning name the following week. There’ll also be a special prize presentation for the winning name at our Coventry Station Community Day at the end of July – further details coming soon.
The new name will be used to inspire community-led artwork at all stations along the line, and we, together with rail industry partners such as West Midlands Railway, will be using it to promote the line and all it has to offer.
To find out more about the competition and about the work done in community rail, email HeartCRP@warwickshire.gov.uk and check us out on social media @HeartCRP
