The Government’s announcement confirming the local leg of HS2 with a station at Toton has been welcomed by Nottingham City Council.
The Department for Transport has today confirmed the eastern leg of its HS2 proposals – the stretch from the West Midlands to Sheffield and Leeds via the East Midlands – will be taken forward as its preferred route and will be safeguarded for future planning purposes.
Independent research has concluded that this stretch offers the best value for money on the whole HS2 network, delivering overwhelming economic benefits worth over £4 billion boost every year. The eastern leg of HS2 covers a huge swathe of the country with an area of 8.6 million people and 3.6 million jobs.
The East Midlands HS2 Strategic Board will formally launch its initial East Midlands HS2 Growth Strategy report on Friday (November 18), detailing those anticipated benefits. They include:
- The creation of 74,000 (direct and indirect) jobs;
- £4billion GVA (or gross value added, the official measure of the value of goods and services an area produces) added to the East Midlands’ economy by 2042, around ten years after it is expected that trains will begin running on the HS2 route;
- An HS2 regional ‘rail hub’ at existing rail land at Toton, Nottinghamshire, with four ordinary rail platforms and two high-speed through lines, plus associated commercial and housing development;
- A regional HS2 maintenance depot at Staveley, five miles north-east of Chesterfield, to serve Midlands’ HS2 lines, which would support up to 800 new jobs onsite;
- Greater connectivity to London and to the north.
City Council Leader Councillor Jon Collins said: “Along with other councils in the region, we have been strong supporters of proposals for the eastern leg of HS2 with a station at Toton, so we’re pleased about the Government’s announcement today. It provides some certainty and allows us to move forward positively with plans which will maximise HS2’s benefits for Nottingham and the wider region.
“As well as the obvious and overdue improvements in train journey times, HS2 will bring huge potential for new investment and jobs in the region. We can now develop our plans to make sure that local people, local businesses and the local economy gain as much as possible from this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”