New rail plan can only be good for our region

CONTRARY to the many previous negative media reactions to the Government Strategic Rail Review it is not all bad news. Although I have much sympathy with negative opinion in the North, the East Midlands outlook can only be positive.

The cancellation of the HS2 Eastern section was inevitable early in 2021 when the National Infrastructure Commission published their very thorough analysis showing that this part of the project was poor value for money. It would have been irresponsible for the Treasury to approve it.

There are potentially some very early wins for this much neglected East Midlands Region following the savage cuts of the Beeching era. The resumption of the Midland Main Line electrification, making full use of the new trains due for commissioning in 2024, East Coast Mainline capacity increase and higher line speeds of 140mph, and the abandonment of the folly of a rail hub at Toton in favour of the existing station at East Midlands Parkway are to be welcomed.

Support for the alternative parkway station has unfortunately been consistently resisted by many local political leaders and their advisers despite better road, airport and rail connectivity than Toton.

It is now anticipated that the three major East Midlands cities of Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham will all have direct access to both London and Birmingham within about an hour from their existing stations up to 10 years earlier than predicted.

Investment in Toton would have had a negative effect on the city centres which can now be reversed. East Midlands Parkway station will be at the heart of connectivity to the area with its new Freeport status. Along with the upgrade of the Erewash Valley Line to Sheffield and the North and the removal of blight on communities along the route this can only be good for the East Midlands.

Terry Holt, Vice chair, East Midlands Railfuture