Editing East Midlands (section)

==Transport==
[[File:Watford gap service station.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Watford Gap services]], Britain's first [[Motorway service area|motorway service station]], seen here in May 2006, which opened in November 1959]]
9% of all jobs in the region are in [[logistics]]. Traffic in the region is growing at 2% per year – the highest growth rate of all UK regions. It is estimated that about 140,000 heavy goods vehicle journeys are made inside the region each day.

===Road===
The [[M1 motorway|M1]] (part of the [[European route E13|E13]] European route) serves the four largest urban areas in the region and affords a motorway link between [[London]], [[Yorkshire]], and [[North East England]]. Additionally, the [[M6 motorway|M6]] begins on the south-western edge of the region, providing links to the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] and [[North West England]]. Both connect to other major routes providing further links to other parts of the UK.

To the east of the largest cities lies the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] (part of the [[European route E15]]), which is important for journeys to and from ports on England's north-east coast and the capital, and is a major artery for the United Kingdom's agricultural industry. The [[A46 road|A46]] largely follows the [[Fosse Way]], which has linked the south-western and north-eastern parts of England since Roman times. The [[A43 road|A43]] [[dual carriageway]] connects the East Midlands via the [[M40 motorway]] corridor with the university city of [[Oxford]], as well as [[South of England]] and [[Solent]] ports further afield. The historically important [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] runs along the south-west [[Leicestershire]] boundary to the south of [[Lutterworth]] and [[Hinckley]]. The [[A14 road (England)|A14]] runs through the north of [[Northamptonshire]], serving the settlements of [[Kettering]] and [[Corby]] alongside surrounding areas, and is a major route between the region and the [[East of England]], including the university city of [[Cambridge]], and the major port of [[Port of Felixstowe|Felixstowe]].

===Airports===
[[File:East Midlands2.JPG|thumb|220px|left|East Midlands Airport (looking west)]]
[[East Midlands Airport]] in [[North West Leicestershire]] is situated in proximity to the region's largest cities; {{convert|14|mile}} from the centres of [[Derby, England|Derby]] and [[Nottingham]], with central [[Leicester]] being {{convert|21|mile}} away and [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] further north east being {{convert|43|mile}} away. The airport is the region's biggest public airport, used by over 4&nbsp;million passengers annually.

Rivalry between the region's three biggest cities has led to a long-running discussion about the identity of both the airport, and region, with the East Midlands rarely found on any non-political map of the UK. The name was at one point changed to Nottingham East Midlands Airport so as to include the name of the city that is supposedly most internationally recognisable. However, the airport has a Derby phone number and postcode, and is in Leicestershire, but is officially assigned to Nottingham by [[IATA]]. As a result of the dispute, the name change reverted.

[[File:DHL freight planes - geograph.org.uk - 165255.jpg|thumb|right|Air cargo aircraft at EMA]]
Three of the world's four main international air-freight companies (integrators) have their UK operations at EMA: [[DHL]], [[United Parcel Service|UPS]] and [[TNT Express]] (TNT bought by UPS); [[FedEx]] have theirs at [[London Stansted Airport|Stansted]]. It is the second-largest freight airport in the UK after [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]], but most freight from EMA is carried on dedicated planes, whereas most freight from Heathrow is carried on passenger planes (bellyhold). [[Royal Mail]] have their main airport hubs at Heathrow and EMA, as EMA is conveniently near the [[M1 motorway (Great Britain)|M1]], [[A42 road (Great Britain)|A42]] and [[A50 road (Great Britain)|A50]]. Heathrow takes some 60 per cent of UK air freight, and EMA some 10 per cent, with Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick next. Air freight has grown at EMA from 1994 to 2004 from about 10,000 to over 250,000&nbsp;tonnes. The main hours of cargo flying are from 20:00–05:00; domestic cargo flies into the airport in the evening, then from 23:30 to 01:30 cargo flies to European capitals and from 03:00–05:00 from Europe to EMA. It is the UK's twelfth-largest passenger airport; the runway is the UK's sixth-longest at {{convert|2900|m|ft}}. [[Royal Mail]] flights from EMA go to [[Belfast]], [[Edinburgh]], [[Inverness]], [[Aberdeen]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], [[Exeter]] and [[Bournemouth]], and it is the largest UK Royal Mail air hub, with eleven flights per night. DHL is the main route carrier at EMA by far with 20 flights per night, UPS have 6, and TNT have 2 (Belfast and Liège); for hubs in Europe, DHL flies to [[Leipzig]], UPS to [[Cologne]], and TNT at [[Liège]].

Smaller airports in the region include [[Retford Gamston Airport]], [[Nottingham Airport]], [[Leicester Airport]], [[Hucknall Airfield]], [[Sywell Aerodrome]], [[Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome]] and [[Humberside Airport]]. [[Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield]] lies just outside the East Midlands in [[South Yorkshire]].

===Railway===
[[File:Newark North Gate railway station MMB 09.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Newark North Gate railway station]] ]]
Three of the United Kingdom's mainline railways serve the region: the [[Midland Main Line]], the [[East Coast Main Line]], and the [[West Coast Main Line]] ([[Northampton Loop]]) providing services terminating at [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras]], [[London King's Cross railway station|London King's Cross]] and [[Euston railway station|London Euston]] respectively. The three lines provide regular high-speed services to [[London]], at up to {{convert|125|mph|km/h|-2|abbr=on}}, serving {{rws|Wellingborough}}, {{rws|Kettering}}, {{rws|Corby}}, {{rws|Market Harborough}}, {{rws|Leicester}}, {{rws|Loughborough}}, {{rws|Derby}}, {{rws|East Midlands Parkway}}, {{rws|Nottingham}}, {{rws|Chesterfield}}, {{rws|Grantham}}, {{rws|Newark North Gate}} and {{rws|Retford}}. {{rws|Northampton}} and {{rws|Long Buckby}} are served by the [[Northampton Loop]] of the [[West Coast Main Line]]. England's primary south-west to north-east [[Cross Country Route]] runs through Derby and Chesterfield. {{rws|Worksop}}, {{rws|Mansfield|England}}, {{rws|Lincoln}}, {{rws|Matlock}}, {{rws|Melton Mowbray}}, {{rws|Skegness}}, {{rws|Boston}}, {{rws|Spalding}} and {{rws|Oakham}} are served by regional services The [[Chiltern Main Line]] also serves the western fringe of the region, at [[King's Sutton railway station|Kings's Sutton]].

A [[Land speed record for rail vehicles|land speed record for trains]] was broken in the region. Although the record was set in 1938, the current world speed record for [[Steam locomotive|steam trains]] is held by [[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard|4468 ''Mallard'']], which clocked {{convert|126|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} between [[Grantham railway station|Grantham]] and [[Peterborough railway station|Peterborough]], pulling six coaches on the [[East Coast Main Line]] near [[Little Bytham]] in Lincolnshire, on 3 July 1938. The ''Mallard'' record was unbroken by any British rail train until 6 June 1973, when an [[InterCity 125]] between [[Northallerton railway station|Northallerton]] and [[Thirsk railway station|Thirsk]] reached {{convert|131|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. ''Mallard'' in 1938 had six carriages and a [[dynamometer car]]. The national electric-train speed record (pre-[[High Speed 1]]) of {{convert|162|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} was set on the same stretch as the Mallard record, on 17 September 1989 by [[British Rail Class 91|Class 91]] 91010.

There were plans to bring a new [[high-speed rail]] line through the East Midlands as part of the [[High Speed 2]] project, of which [[High Speed 2 Phase Two|Phase 2]] would have brought a new line connecting [[Birmingham Curzon Street railway station|Birmingham]] to [[Leeds railway station|Leeds]], with a proposed station in [[Toton]] known as the [[East Midlands Hub railway station|East Midlands Hub]] It would also have served the region via "classic-compatible" tracks serving [[Chesterfield railway station|Chesterfield]] and [[Sheffield railway station|Sheffield]], the latter of which is just outside the region in [[Yorkshire & the Humber]].

===Water===
[[File:River Trent - geograph.org.uk - 684700.jpg|thumb|220px|right|The River Trent at the former [[High Marnham Power Station]], next to the 1897 [[Fledborough Viaduct]]; the power station, built in 1959, was Europe's first 1000 MW coal power station (5 x 200 MW) and consumed coal from 17 collieries; the area is the largest collection of power stations in Europe, sometimes known as ''Kilowatt Valley''.]]
The [[River Trent|Trent]] is a [[Navigability|navigable river]] used to transport goods to the [[Humber]], as well as passing by many power stations. The Trent is the only river in England able to supply cooling water for power stations for most of its length; it has the largest water capacity in England, although it is not the longest.

Several rivers in the region gave their name to early [[Rolls-Royce plc|Rolls-Royce]] jet engines, namely the [[River Nene|Nene]], the [[River Welland|Welland]], and the [[River Soar|Soar]].

===Trams===

Nottingham is the only city in the region served by a light railway system, operated by [[Nottingham Express Transit]].

===Transport policy===
As part of the transport planning system, the now defunct Regional Assembly was under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involved region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the [[Highways Agency]] and [[Network Rail]].<ref name=GoEM1>{{cite web |url=http://www.gos.gov.uk/goem/transport/regtransstrategy/?a=42496 |title=Regional Transport Strategy: the National Picture |publisher=[[Government Offices for the English Regions|Government Office for the East Midlands]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718021317/http://www.gos.gov.uk/goem/transport/regtransstrategy/?a=42496
|archive-date=18 July 2006 }}</ref>

Local transport authorities in the region carry out planning through a [[Local transport plan|Local Transport Plan (LTP)]].<ref name=DfT1>{{cite web |url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/theltpprocess |title=The LTP Process |publisher=[[Department for Transport]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816091752/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/ltp/theltpprocess |archive-date=16 August 2009 }}</ref> The most recent LTPs are for the period 2006–11. The following East Midland transport authorities published an LTP online: [[Derbyshire]],<ref name=DLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/transport_planning/ |title=Derbyshire 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Derbyshire County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228222811/http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/transport_planning/ |archive-date=28 February 2009 }}</ref> [[Leicestershire]].<ref name=LeTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/highways/transport_plans_policies/ltp/ltp2_summary.htm |title=Leicestershire 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Leicestershire County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716022919/http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/highways/transport_plans_policies/ltp/ltp2_summary.htm |archive-date=16 July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Lincolnshire]],<ref name=LiLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?sectiontype=fileattachment&catid=2225&docid=41750 |title=Lincolnshire 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Lincolnshire County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223203039/http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?sectiontype=fileattachment&catid=2225&docid=41750 |archive-date=23 December 2012  |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Northamptonshire]],<ref name=NhLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www3.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Transport/TP/LTP/ltp06-11.htm |title=Northamptonshire 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Northamptonshire County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522170309/http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/Transport/TP/LTP/ltp06-11.htm |archive-date=22 May 2008 }}</ref> [[Nottinghamshire]]<ref name=NtLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/traffic_and_travel/strategy-policy/ltp.htm |title=Nottinghamshire 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Nottinghamshire County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511164706/http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/traffic_and_travel/strategy-policy/ltp.htm |archive-date=11 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Rutland]] U.A.<ref name=RLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.rutland.gov.uk/pp/gold/viewgold.asp?idtype=page&id=9664 |title=Rutland 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Rutland County Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230235815/http://www.rutland.gov.uk/pp/gold/viewGold.asp?IDType=Page&ID=9664 |archive-date=30 December 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Unitary authorities#United Kingdom|unitary authorities]] of [[Derby]],<ref name=DcLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.derby.gov.uk/TransportStreets/TransportPlanning/DerbyLJTP06-11/DJLTP-06-11.htm |title=Derby 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Derby City Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430121221/http://www.derby.gov.uk/TransportStreets/TransportPlanning/DerbyLJTP06-11/DJLTP-06-11.htm |archive-date=30 April 2009 }}</ref> [[Leicester]]<ref name=LicLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/transport--traffic/transportpolicy/transport-plan/second-local-transport-plan |title=Leicester 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher=[[Leicester City Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201174457/http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/transport--traffic/transportpolicy/transport-plan/second-local-transport-plan |archive-date=1 December 2008
}}</ref> and [[Nottingham]]<ref name=NcLTP>{{cite web |url=http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=848 |title=Nottingham 2006–11 Local Transport Plan |publisher= [[Nottingham City Council]] |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101126003113/http://nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=848 |archive-date = 26 November 2010 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all}}</ref> They have each written a joint LTP in collaboration with their respective local county councils.