‘Very concerning’: Cash cuts could see HS2’s eastern leg terminate at Parkway station
YEARS OF DELAYS AND SPIRALLING COSTS ALSO PREDICTED IN REPORT
HIGH-SPEED railway HS2’s eastern leg could now terminate at East Midlands Parkway station on the Leicestershire/Notts border under drastic cuts being recommended to government.
A new report commissioned by Boris Johnson raises fresh doubts about extending the high-speed track eastwards from Birmingham all the way to Leeds.
It said Phase 2b should instead end at the underused Parkway station near East Midlands Airport, where passengers could join the existing mainline network to head further north.
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) report also predicts years of delays and spiralling costs for the controversial rail project.
Senior politicians and business leaders have reacted angrily to the suggestions, saying cutting the extension would “short-change millions of people across the Midlands” – although one MP said it was a great idea.
East Midlands councils and developers have invested heavily in proposals which could see billions of pounds’ worth of transport links, industry and housing go up around a planned HS2 hub further north, at Toton, near Nottingham.
They fear that might now be cancelled.
The Toton plans have been built into proposals for an East Midlands Development Corporation, which also takes in land around Chetwynd, in Nottingham, Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station and East Midlands Airport.
In all, 80,000 jobs are planned as part of those wider plans.
Supporters said Toton is also key to improving the poor rail links between the East and West Midlands.
Under the original plan, the railway would have a station in Nottinghamshire but not in Leicestershire – even though the track would carve its way through the Leicestershire countryside – something which has outraged local HS2 opponents.
The NIC was asked by the Prime Minister in February to contribute to the government’s Integrated Rail Plan. A final decision on whether HS2 stops at East Midlands Parkway or at Toton will be taken early in the new year.
The report said: “Under different scenarios, it is less clear to the commission that a hub station at Toton would still be the right solution for improving connectivity across the Midlands.
“Setting aside costs, Toton requires the development of a new site on railway brownfield, requiring the relocation of existing rail facilities and extensive work on nearby junctions.
“In addition, its location means that high-speed services would not directly serve any of the cities in the East Midlands, although Midlands Connect has proposed schemes that would provide direct services into Nottingham, with a new junction on the HS2 line and link to the conventional railway.
“An alternative option for consideration would be to improve the existing East Midlands Parkway station next to the Ratcliffe Power Station site, which was previously considered for the eastern leg of HS2.”
It said that “using East Midlands Parkway would better enable faster rail services between Nottingham and Birmingham”.
Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who chairs East Midlands Councils’ Transport for the East Midlands group, said a terminus in countryside near East Midlands Airport was not a good idea, as it risked mirroring Ebbsfleet in Kent, where major development around transport links fell short of expectations.
He said: “It makes no sense for a transformational national transport project to end up at an isolated site that has never hit its passenger targets. The Parkway option would be another Ebbsfleet.
“A hub station at Toton would deliver a transformational transport project for our region, which properly connects our cities – providing a direct route between Leicester and Leeds, for example – opening up new business and growth between two great destinations.”
East Midlands Parkway station on the Midland Mainline was built in 2009 to provide a link to East Midlands Airport, even though it is five miles away.
East Midlands Councils said it had averaged half the 743,000 passengers a year that had been expected.
North West Leicestershire Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a long-time opponent of HS2, welcomed the Parkway suggestion, though. He said: “With the HS2 budget ballooning beyond even my pessimistic predictions, I welcome some common sense creeping into the scheme with the proposal to cancel the line north of Parkway while there is an existing conventional rail line in place.
“I first raised the possible use of East Midlands Parkway as the hub station four years ago and put together a dossier for the Transport Secretary and minister at the time.
“It seemed to me to be a logical solution given the extensive parking provision, close transport links to the M1 and M42 with the duelled A453 offering easy access, existing links to Derby, Nottingham and Leicester, together with 700 acres of development land with the decommissioned Radcliffe on Soar Power Station.
“Toton offered nothing on this scale and made little strategic sense. I am only disappointed that it’s taken this long for this to be seen despite my lobbying of ministers, neighbouring colleagues and councils.
“I still believe there are better ways of spending the HS2 budget. However, we have to make the best of a bad job and having the hub at East Midlands Parkway reduces unnecessary costs and has far more potential than Toton.
“Parkway is five minutes from East Midlands Airport and the Nottingham tram system.
“Indeed, it gives the opportunity to link to both of these. This is a much better result for the district.”
Maria Machancoses is the director of Midlands Connect, part of the Midlands Engine, set up to bring infrastructure and other economic investment into the region.
She said some of the options in the NIC report were “very concerning”.
She said: “Sacrificing parts of the high-speed network now would short-change millions of people across the Midlands and undermine our efforts to deliver a transport network fit for the 21st century.
“HS2 must be delivered in its entirety, including its Eastern Leg from Birmingham to Leeds, alongside Midlands Engine Rail.
“To stall, scale down or delay now will cause irreparable economic damage to communities across the region – especially the East Midlands, which has suffered from a chronic under-investment in infrastructure for decades.
“A decade of planning has gone into making Toton not only HS2’s East Midlands Hub, but also the site of thousands of new homes, a new centre for renewable energy and an innovation campus.
“East Midlands Parkway was assessed as a possible location for HS2’s East Midlands hub back in 2015.
“The evidence was as clear then as it is now, this is not the best option – doing this would create fewer jobs, attract less investment and stifle regeneration.
“Going over this old ground again is a waste of time and resources – we need to get building now.”
East Midlands Chamber of Commerce chief executive Scott Knowles said: “This is time for real ambition and for turning round the woeful under-investment in transport in the East Midlands.
“Levelling-up means we should not be treated second best again.”
Work on the main section of HS2 between London and Birmingham is now under way, and is expected to create 22,000 jobs over the coming years.
Levelling-up means we should not be treated second best again Scott Knowles, right