Higgins recommends Sheffield city centre station for HS2
THE debate over whether HS2 should call at Sheffield city centre, rather than Meadowhall, could be reaching its conclusion following new recommendations by HS2 Ltd Chairman Sir David Higgins that could also save the project £1 billion.
In his report released on July 7, Higgins proposed a route whereby ‘classic compatible’ HS2 trains between London and Sheffield would take a spur off the new line and travel directly into the existing Sheffield Midland station.
HS2 Ltd says this option would allow the main HS2 line to be built to the east of the originally proposed route, through less densely populated areas and avoiding the complexities surrounding Meadowhall - such as road traffic management and building a station on a viaduct.
Speaking exclusively to RAIL, Higgins said: “What emerged [from this study] was that there was no outstanding economic reason to choose one location over the other. It was much more about the impact of trying to get the connectivity to the city centre to work more effectively.”
Higgins’ proposal would mean up to two trains per hour coming off the high-speed line to run on a dedicated link to join the existing Midland Main Line into Sheffield Midland station.
“We don’t think Sheffield Midland will require substantial changes as we can work within the existing station geometry. The station is going to be upgraded in any case for the electrification [already planned in Control Period 6], and nothing else substantial will be needed for HS2,” he said.
This option would also open up the possibility for an additional station stop at Chesterfield.
“The Midland Main Line already goes through Chesterfield, so we wouldn’t be looking at an additional station at Chesterfield. But stopping there is an added bonus of putting the spur line into Sheffield Midland because, while there’s strong demand in Sheffield city itself, there’s also the area south of Sheffield and into Chesterfield which has a long history of proven demand for journeys up and down to London.”
The main HS2 route could then run as far as possible in parallel with the M18, taking a geographically easier and less populated route.
Additional journey time savings of between one and five minutes for Leeds and the cities further north could also be achieved.
In his report, Higgins wrote: “I also believe that HS2 should undertake a study to make recommendations to the Secretary of State on the potential for a parkway station on the M18/Eastern leg, which could serve the South Yorkshire area as a whole.”
He told RAIL the main reason for suggesting this is that the stretch of line from Toton through to Leeds is the longest on the whole high speed network without an intermediate station (at around 100km, 62 miles).
“So I think at the very least we need to do the analysis to work out if there is sufficient demand, or for that matter geography, to allow a parkway station - or at the very least to future-proof a location for one.”
Higgins said that another important consideration was Transport for the North’s ambitions in planning the Northern Powerhouse Rail network, envisaging six trains per hour with a 30-minute journey time between Sheffield and Leeds. This is a reduction of ten minutes from the current fastest time of 40 minutes, and more from the average of 55-65 minutes.
Said Higgins: “Achieving that ambition was not in HS2’s original remit, or budget, but it is now a significant factor which has to be taken account of and reflected in our decision-making process.”
He told RAIL: “We work closely with John Cridland [TfN chairman] and the team at TfN because so much of the benefits of the spine of HS2 will be enhanced by tying it into local plans.”
Upon the release of Higgins’ report, Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: “Since the Government proposed that South Yorkshire should be served by a high speed station at Meadowhall in 2013, opinion among local stakeholders has remained divided. This has made the decision about where best to locate an HS2 station in South Yorkshire very challenging.”
Higgins echoed this, saying that the decision about where to locate the HS2 station in south Yorkshire has been one of the most difficult he has faced.
Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP Sir Nigel Knowles said: “Connectivity with the rest of the UK is a major factor in achieving our growth plans. Of equal importance is the inter-connectivity within the North, via HS3, and we look forward to working with the Government and other partners to bring that to fruition as quickly as possible.”
McLoughlin is expected to make an announcement on the full Phase 2 route, including a decision on these latest recommendations, later in the year.