Mark Harper Secretary of State for Transport confirms in a review that the government is proceeding with HS2 East (the new high-speed line between the West and East Midlands).
In a review of HS2 including programme update, local community impact and engagement, environment, benefits and programme governance, Mr Harper confirms the government stance on the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) and that a high-speed line between the West and East Midlands (known as HS2 East) will be taken forward, with HS2 trains continuing to Nottingham and to Chesterfield/Sheffield (via Derby) on the upgraded conventional rail network.
As at the end of August 2022, £0.65 billion had been spent developing the HS2 Eastern Leg to Leeds, including workforce costs.
A substantial proportion of this has been spent on HS2 East (the West to East Midlands section of the HS2 Eastern Leg), which is proceeding as confirmed in the IRP.
£0.15 billion has been spent on land and property along the full HS2 Eastern Leg to Leeds, and again a substantial proportion of that land and property spend is along the section confirmed in the IRP between the West and East Midlands.
Any land or property not ultimately required for the railway will be resold, enabling the government to recover costs.
The target cost for the HS2 East leg is to be confirmed.
In July 2022a new strategy to make the most of the arrival of HS2 in the East Midlands was being developed.
Government gave the region £1m to come up with detailed plans aimed at maximising the potential of high-speed rail, with trains coming to a new HS2 station at East Midlands Parkway and going on to Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.
The then rail Minister Andrew Stephenson requested that the work should be managed by the East Midlands Development Company (EM DevCo), which has been set up by five local authorities to plan three major development zones – including the area around Parkway.
The government’s Integrated Rail Plan announced in November 2021 that HS2 would come to East Midlands Parkway on a new high-speed rail line from Birmingham, with trains then joining the existing network to reach Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.
The new HS2 Growth Strategy will examine the best ways to make high-speed trains accessible to people and communities across the region, and look at the opportunities for economic growth it offers through new development.
The strategy will also look at the potential for other rail connections to be linked up to high-speed train services, including projects such as the proposed Maid Marian Line in Nottinghamshire.
The HS2 station at East Midlands Parkway means high-speed trains will be directly accessible from a series of major road networks such as the M1, A50, A453, A6 and A42, connecting it to communities in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. It is also close to East Midlands Airport and within the East Midlands Freeport area.
It is also alongside the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station area, one of three zones whose development potential is being planned and promoted by the DevCo. The others are the East Midlands Airport area and the Toton and Chetwynd Corridor.
The Integrated Rail Plan pledged billions in investment for rail services in the East Midlands, including HS2 services, the electrification of the Midland Mainline, and looking at the potential to upgrade the East Coast Mainline, open a Network Rail station at Toton, and extend the Robin Hood line via the Maid Marian Line.
