MPS unite to back Toton HS2 plans
COUNTY MPS have added their support to the Toton HS2 station, amid speculation the Government could decide to terminate the high speed line at East Midlands Parkway.
A National Infrastructure Commission report into the future of the Eastern leg of the line is expected later this month.
The line goes from London to Birmingham before splitting into a Y-shape, with the Western leg going to Manchester and the Eastern leg going to Leeds, via Toton.
Together, the Western and Eastern legs are known as Phase 2b.
Yesterday, during a debate on the subject in Westminster Hall, Darren Henry, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe, said ahead of the NIC report: “I feel it is essential that the importance of the Eastern leg of Phase 2b is brought to the fore.
“The connection from Birmingham to Toton in the East Midlands, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds must be delivered in full.
“Council and business leaders in my area and indeed the north have raised quite serious concerns to me that the Eastern leg of Phase 2b may be scaled back.
“Should this come to pass it would be counter-intuitive, short sighted and frankly unacceptable to communities in the Midlands that have suffered from decades of chronic under-investment.
“In the Midlands, the new hub station in Toton is creating thousands of high-skilled jobs.
“It’s sparking a huge improvement in local transport links, and will establish the East Midlands region as a centre for innovation and renewable energy generation.”
Conservative MP for Gedling Tom Randall also added his support to the project.
Speaking during the debate, he said to Mr Henry: “Would he agree with me that, say, Birmingham, for example, is much closer to Nottingham than London is, but the travel time from Nottingham to Birmingham is not that much shorter than it is to London.
“Although we talk often about improving north to south travel, actually improving east-west travel is also very important, and schemes like the Eastern leg of HS2 will help to achieve that.”
Lilian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South, also said to Mr Henry: “Back in 2012 the options for Phase 2b of the high speed rail network ran to 347 pages, and concluded after rigorous analysis that Toton was the right place for the station.
“Not just because it had the poten
tial to offer integrated interchange across our region – which of course local councils and other partners have spent now eight years developing – but also because it provided the opportunity for regeneration, for housing, for jobs.
“Toton beat other alternatives including East Midlands Parkway, for those precise reasons.”
In response to the debate, Transport minister Andrew Stephenson said: “I am aware there are concerns about what the NIC is likely to suggest in its report, but I would like to say as an independent body it is right they look at all available evidence in undertaking their assessment.
“Once the report is published, it will then be for ministers to consider the NIC’S conclusions, and make final decisions on the integrated rail plan. I know there have been rumours that the Government has scrapped the Eastern leg in favour of focusing on the west, I can confirm that is simply not true.
“This is a railway not just for the short term – this is a long term investment that will bring our cities closer together.”