I would love for this to happen, but as somebody who has campaigned for the route's passenger service to be reinstated, I can say with confidence that it will not happen until the local councils stop opposing it on cost grounds.
The latest "appraisal" was particularly appalling in that it put reopening costs at £150 million due to vague claims of "subsidence" along patches of the route north of Coalville requiring upwards of £70 million of work to rectify... even though the line is still traversable in its entirety, and it only cost £3.9 million to replace the entirety of the damaged
trackbed of the Severn Valley, a far worse example, to Network Rail's standards, to the extent that the line is now permitted for 50mph testing - a similar standard to that which one would expect the Leicester - Burton route to operate. Even taking inflation into account, that was a flat out lie which was never scrutinised, and then used as an excuse to shelve proposals yet again. Economic growth, regeneration of Coalville and ecological benefits for the growing National Forest were all ignored - as was the concept of opening in phases, with a Coalville - Leicester service along the "functional" section of the route, which takes in all of its major economic receptors, a non-starter for no good reason.
On top of that, the GVA and cost-benefit ratio has always been grossly understated, when the solid evidence from similar schemes - be that the Robin Hood line, the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff line or the Borders route - has ended up with passenger figures smashing usage expectations. In the case of Ebbw Vale, they managed to hit the 5 year projection in 11 months. All three routes have had to lengthen consists to deal with demand.
The only real obstacle is the lack of a northern chord at Saffron Lane, which would require the compulsory purchase of and demolition of a factory unit. But when you consider the amount of CPOs associated with HS2, knocking down one factory is a pretty ridiculous excuse, especially as it will also unlock new freight paths for the route. There's even the possibility of a new turnback at Saffron Lane with a station, which I'm sure the local area would find useful.
You've got a ready-made connection to park and ride at Meynell's Gorse, huge employment growth at Bardon Hill business park (not least the new Amazon depot) and thousands of houses being built in the likes of Ibstock, Ravenstone and Whitwick. But apparently none of that warrants even an hourly rail service.
Put simply, it may require a modest subsidy, so Leicestershire and Staffordshire continually do all they can to avoid having to fund services - even if that means wantonly releasing fudged reports to undermine its economic viability. It would have to be forced through national government for it to ever happen, but nobody around here seems to have the commitment to do so.
