Airport’s railway bid ‘could lead to 33,000 new jobs’

A PROPOSAL that could deliver 33,000 jobs at Doncaster Sheffield Airport over the next 10 years will be formally submitted to the Government.

The Sheffield City Region, Doncaster Council and Peel Group which owns Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) are submitting an outline business case to the Government which could deliver a new national and regional rail connection to the airport by building a new railway station.

The organisations claim that with just 4.5 miles of new track required, the proposed GatewayEast Growth Hub Rail scheme will add high speed electrified rail connectivity to the airport and expand its catchment area as far away as the North London suburbs.

The plans would quadruple the number of people with airport access via a sustainable transport mode from 2.4 million to 9 million within a 90-minute rail journey.

They add also that the scheme would deliver 33,000 jobs in the North within the next ten years, 10,000 of which are deliverable within five years.

Dan Jarvis MP Mayor of the Sheffield City Region said: “The benefits to communities and businesses through connecting the country’s fastest growing regional airport to the national and regional rail network are huge. We have to make sure that we get people off our roads and onto sustainable public transport. This investment would help make that a reality.”

Robert Hough, chair of DSA, said: “An East Coast Mainline station situated at DSA demonstrates exceptional value for money for the tax-payer with a 22:1 return on its £300m investment.”