By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
The cancellation of HS2 to the north has been dubbed a ‘disaster’ for the East Midlands as some local leaders warned the region will be “levelled down” by the decision.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed he is “cancelling the rest” of the high-speed rail plan and instead diverting £36bn into regional transport projects.
Construction on the costly first leg of HS2 between London and Birmingham is currently underway and will be delivered in full.
The second leg was then due to branch off from Birmingham in two directions, with phase 2a of the western leg connecting the West Midlands with Crewe before phase 2b extended the line to Manchester.
HS2 East would have then connected Birmingham with Leeds via the East Midlands.
However, HS2 East was scaled back in November 2021 as part of the Integrated Rail Plan and instead replaced with smaller high-speed projects.
This included scrapping the planned HS2 hub at Toton and instead diverting high-speed trains to East Midlands Parkway station.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has since confirmed even this part of the project will no longer go ahead as a result of Mr Sunak’s announcement today (October 4).
It joins the legs between Birmingham and Manchester in being dropped in favour of what the Prime Minister described as a “Network North” project.
This will redirect all cash towards more localised transport schemes across the North and Midlands.
The Midlands – including both the East and West – will get a share of £9.6bn, the Department for Transport says.
But the news has led to some business leaders and politicians suggesting the East Midlands has been “let down” by the Government in its ‘levelling up’ ambitions.
Scott Knowles, chief executive of the East Midlands Chamber, said: “This latest embarrassing U-turn is another nail in the coffin for the Government’s levelling up mantra.
“It damages confidence and has real-world impacts in terms of job creation and business investment.
“Forget levelling up – it feels like we are being levelled down in the East Midlands. Again.”
However, Cllr Ben Bradley (Con), the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and Mansfield’s MP, said the region won’t lose out overall.
He says separate projects planned by the Government instead of HS2 show a “commitment” to the region and to improving transport links.
This includes delivering a planned £1.75bn Midlands Rail Hub in full to improve journey times, capacity and frequency across the two regions.
Access between Birmingham Moor Street and East Midlands Parkway stations is expected as part of this project.
Cllr Bradley says this potentially opens up a connection for high-speed trains with Nottingham, Derby and Chesterfield via an upgraded Midland Mainline.
However, he admits a physical high-speed line into the region is no longer in the pipeline.
The Tory mayoral candidate told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The Midlands Rail Hub will look at how you get high-speed trains through Birmingham and out to East Midlands Parkway.
“I’m still comfortable high-speed trains – not a new line but high-speed trains – will come to Parkway, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.
“I don’t agree we’re not going to get high-speed travel through the East Midlands.
“If we can do the work to connect the dots, there’s no reason we can’t get high-speed trains to the places we thought we’d get them before.”
The Department for Transport also says links will be upgraded between Newark and Nottingham, and it will extend the existing London-Leicester-Nottingham trains to Yorkshire and the North East.
Whitehall says this will reduce travel time from Nottingham to Leeds by about an hour, enable “the quadrupling of direct seats” between the two cities and also enable 600 more seats per hour between Nottingham and Leicester.
No timeline was confirmed by the Government for this project.
The Department for Transport added £1.5bn in additional cash has been pledged for the new East Midlands devolved mayor to spend on local transport funding in the region.
A report suggests this could be used to extend the Nottingham tram network to Gedling and to re-open the Maid Marian Line between Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Derbyshire.
But Cllr Matt Relf (Ash Ind), another candidate for the mayoral role, says the wider announcement is “pittance” compared to what had initially been offered.
“This represents catastrophic political leadership,” he said.
“The list of projects the government has announced with this are not new and should have been funded anyway.
“The East Midlands needs these projects now, not in 10 years. It is time to stop dithering and start delivering.”
Claire Ward, Labour’s candidate, added: “It shows the Government doesn’t take the East Midlands seriously.
“He didn’t even have the courtesy of mentioning the HS2 leg between Birmingham and the East Midlands hub, though it’s clear that’s not happening.
“This is a disaster for us and worst of all, for businesses who have invested in that route over the years. Why should they listen to this Government anymore?”
Other projects included in the announcement include £2.2bn to remove the “scourge of potholes” across the East and West Midlands.
The two regions will also get £220m to improve the frequency of buses alongside £100m for London-style contactless ticketing on public transport.
Nationally, the announcement also includes continuing the £2 bus fare cap until the end of 2024 and £350m to improve accessibility at 100 rail stations.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said: “This is the right way to drive growth and spread opportunity across our country – to level up.”
In a report, the Department for Transport added: “Our view is clear: the best interests of the whole UK are not served by progressing further phases of the project, in the face of diminishing benefits and a far more pressing set of priorities elsewhere.
“So we will not proceed with Phase 2a, 2b or HS2 East.”
