HS2: Nottinghamshire MPs fully behind plans for Toton station

Darren Henry was one of the Nottinghamshire MPs who spoke in favour of a Toton station for HS2

A National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) 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.

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.

“I wholeheartedly believe this government is committed to righting the wrongs of inequality, to levelling up and investing in the legacy of a green transport network.

“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.

“It will provide green, carbon neutral travel for the next century.

“It must go ahead, as the Prime Minister and numerous cabinet secretaries have repeatedly promised.

“It is not the east versus the west, we need the whole of Phase 2b to be delivered.

"But the evidence is clear – these communities on the eastern leg cannot and must not be left behind.

To suggest the station in the East Midlands should move away from Toton would reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Toton proposition has become.”

Tom Randall, Conservative MP for Gedling, also added his support to the project.

He said: “Would he (Mr Henry) 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.”

Lillian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South, added: “He (Mr Henry) may not have been an MP at the time, but 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 potential 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.

“Does he agree with me that 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.

“Earlier this year I had a very useful and informative visit to the proposed site at Toton and I’ve also had very good discussions with the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council Kay Cutts on this issue.

“This is a railway not just for the short term this is a long-term investment that will bring our cities closer together, and I hope to be able to provide certainty to Mr Henry as soon as possible.”