Friday 29 March 2024
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HS2 downgrade could see line end at East Midlands Parkway

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has suggested a series of options on the future of the high-speed line.

One option includes the use of East Midlands Parkway as the end of the line, where it would then connect with mainline services to Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland.

Previously, the line was planned to go through Toton and on to Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds.

Responding to the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) Rail Needs Assessment Plan in which it outlines recommendations on the future of HS2, East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) chief executive Scott Knowles said: “HS2 is the single-biggest transport infrastructure project in a generation and represents a huge opportunity for businesses, with the potential to unlock economic benefits of more than £4bn for the East Midlands and part of Yorkshire.

“By connecting the region with a first-class UK and Europe-wide rail network, it will bring enormous opportunities to local firms and make the East Midlands a much more attractive location for inward investment.

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“However, these benefits for both the region and country will only be realised once it is delivered in full. That means the Eastern Leg being built exactly as the Government has promised all along, rather than a diluted version of this, and at pace.

“We will have major capacity issues on the Midland Main Line within the next two decades unless something is done to upgrade the rail network, so this needs to be addressed urgently. HS2 would achieve this, while also offering much-needed improvements in connectivity between the region’s towns and cities.

“However, this is so much more than just a railway line. It’s been great to see many parts of the East Midlands come together to commit to a blueprint for the future of the region that will bring economic growth and jobs. We have been very clear on our vision, which is built on the idea that the Toton hub station becomes a destination in its own right – a magnet for inward investment and an industrial hub that unlocks further development opportunities.

“The NIC’s report is therefore very concerning as it doesn’t take any of the regional growth plans into account and we absolutely do not accept its findings.

“Any suggestion that involves stopping HS2 at East Midlands Parkway would not work for the region, and has already been considered and dismissed from a feasibility perspective years ago.

“When the Government makes its decision about which option to include in its Integrated Rail Plan, it will have a clear choice between an exciting vision created by a region that’s focused on long-term growth and prosperity – one that will shape how we want our country to look as we leave the UK-EU transition period – and another that applies rough methodology, offers short-term logic and ultimately doesn’t deliver the same benefits.

“We have a plan that’s ready to go and it’s time the Government delivered on promises it has made so many times over the past 12 months since it firmly committed to the scheme – and in the years that preceded it.

“The East Midlands currently has the lowest transport spend per capita – £245 per head – of any region in the UK, receiving just 51% of the £483 UK average. The region is in desperate need of investment and finally putting any questions to bed on the HS2 Eastern Leg would go some way to proving the Government is serious about delivering on the ‘levelling-up’ agenda – a point on which it has repeatedly banged the drum without any serious proof of what this actually means.
“To do anything else would be a huge mistake, critically undermining the entire project and blowing a huge hole in Government rhetoric.”

Nottingham City Council Leader, Cllr David Mellen, said: “While claiming to be committed to investing in the East Midlands following years of under-investment, this report suggests yet again the Government is ignoring the needs of our region.

“These proposals reduce any chance of improving Nottingham’s existing poor connections to the north, while putting a huge dent in the proposed development around Toton, which all local partners have backed as the best option for the East Midlands, bringing much-needed jobs and investment to the area.

“Perhaps the biggest and most devastating impact will be a significant loss of investor confidence in Nottingham and other cities on the Eastern side of the country.

“We’re disappointed but sadly not surprised by the proposals put forward in this report. Suggesting HS2 stops at East Midlands Parkway is just the latest in a history of broken promises from this Government.

“We waited 30 years to secure the investment for essential improvements to the A453, and previously the Government cancelled the electrification of the Midland Mainline.

“I hope the Government will not let us down again, and will reject these proposals and stand by their commitment to deliver HS2 in full, all the way to Leeds and Manchester.”

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