MPs say it would be "really disappointing" if the HS2 rail line didn't reach Nottinghamshire amid reports that the Government is thinking of scrapping part of the project. Current plans would see the eastern leg of the new line terminating near the East Midlands Parkway station, just south of Nottingham.
The eastern leg of HS2 was already cut short, given that original plans would have seen it running to Leeds. The original plans would have also seen an East Midlands Railway Hub being built in Toton, but the Integrated Rail Plan in 2021 confirmed that much of HS2's eastern leg had been scrapped.
The Financial Times has now reported that the Government is considering the scrapping of the eastern leg altogether, meaning that it wouldn't reach Nottinghamshire at all. The paper says the idea is part of HS2 cost-cutting initiatives that will continue until the summer and that no final decision will be made until they are complete.
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But the rumours have already provoked angry responses from figures including Nottingham South's Labour MP, Lilian Greenwood, who said: "Rumours that the Tories are planning to cancel the HS2 extension to Nottingham will not come as a surprise to anyone in our great city. The East Midlands has for years had the lowest level of infrastructure investment in England and we've been let down by successive Tory Prime Ministers who have made big promises to improve our railways only to delay and then cancel them."
Nottinghamshire County Council leader and Mansfield's Conservative MP, Ben Bradley, also said that he wanted to see the remaining eastern leg of the project delivered. He said: "We've got a lot invested in the plans that were laid out in the Integrated Rail Plan.
"The Government has given us several million pounds to do the kind of planning work around what growth and investment we could get around the East Midlands Parkway and Toton. Obviously we'd be really disappointed if [it was scrapped]."
The HS2 project will involve a line from London to Birmingham before breaking off into a 'Y' shape there, with lines heading towards Manchester and the East Midlands Parkway. Although scrapping the building of a HS2 hub in Toton, the Government did commit to a railway station there which will connect to the reopened Maid Marian Line – closed during the 1960s.
The previous idea was for a Toton station to act as a high-speed hub. But under the revised plan, HS2 lines would instead go to the new base at East Midlands Parkway, and HS2 trains will continue from there to Nottingham Station on main rail network lines.
Lilian Greenwood added: "Rishi Sunak's Government has form, with its refusal earlier this year to provide a single penny of round 2 'levelling up' funds to help regenerate the Broadmarsh or Island Quarter sites. By running our economy and public services into the ground, it is clear that the only thing that the Conservatives want to do is 'level down' Britain."
The Department for Transport responded to the Financial Times report by saying that it does not comment on speculation, but Ben Bradley added: "This is the time of year ahead of the annual budget where speculation in the media about what the Government may or may not do is there every day.
"Most of it is just rumour and doesn't come to pass. I'm seeing the rail minister in 10 or 12 days and I'll feed in our regional desires and the plans we've got, and they'll make those decisions. But I've certainly not heard anything from any Government minister which suggests [the HS2 rumours] are true."
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