Since its initial announcement, the HS2 project has been surrounded by controversy. Original budget plans have been scuppered, and many changes have been made to the design and layout. What once looked like a promising boost to the East Midlands area is no longer valid.
This has become a highly debated move by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, this autumn of 2023, while he decided to ax the northern leg of HS2. Although Labour have announced they won’t reverse the decision, since then a succession of damning reports has underlined how it weakens the rationale for high-speed rail. The move is considered by many to have blown a hole in UK’s efforts to improve connectivity and give the regional economies a fillip amid infrastructural challenges in the North and Midlands.
New jobs, homes, and geographical infrastructure were supposed to boost local East Midlands businesses thanks to Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s announcement that a new HS2 station would be located in the Toton Growth Zone. The original plans were set to offer an economic boost not only for Nottingham but for the whole of the East Midlands.
However, the Toton Growth Zone was part of a much bigger plan and holds huge economic and social potential for all those in Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester. For businesses such as dbs Managed Offices, the potential to provide new office space, meeting rooms, and accommodation to those working on the Toton Growth Zone and those businesses that move to the area because of the development has resulted in a boost in business expansion and projections.
Timeline of HS2
2015: Budget and Ambitious Plans Announced
HS2-a high-speed rail project initially budgeted at £55.7 billion-was touted as the long-awaited solution to better connect the north and the south of the country through high-speed rail. It is due to be built in two stages: phase one will link London with Birmingham. The second stage would be a Y-shaped network, one leg going to Manchester and the other towards Leeds via the East Midlands. Included in this proposal was a brand-new East Midlands Hub station at Toton, near the M1, which would serve Nottingham and Derby.
2020: Costs Rise and Plans Revised
By 2020, the estimated costs had shot up to £98 billion, and the plans came under scrutiny and debates over the deliverability of the project. Defying this, construction started on the first phase of the rail line between London and Birmingham, which is still currently underway and due to complete in its entirety.
2021: Integrated Rail Plan Alters the Vision
IRP, published in 2021 under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, drastically changed the scope for HS2, which included:
- Scrapping the original East Midlands Hub station at Toton.
- It will be extended to the existing East Midland Parkway station, near the M1.
- Beyond the East Midland Parkway, the scheme proposed upgrades to the existing rail network rather than building a new high-speed line.
This marked a turning point, shifting the project’s focus from new infrastructure toward enhancing existing rail links in some areas.
October 2023: The Northern Leg Abandoned
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in October 2023 that HS2 wouldn’t extend any more than Birmingham. That effectively abandoned its northern leg, which had been forecast through to Leeds via the East Midlands. It followed on that the East Midlands Parkway station-the revised replacement for Toton a little earlier-wasn’t either going to be built now.
The move by Sunak drew widespread criticism, with many experts and regional leaders arguing it undermined the project’s original intent of boosting connectivity and economic growth in the Midlands and the North.
No Revival Under Labour post-2023
Labour has now said it would not reinstate HS2’s northern leg, which raises issues of cost and feasibility. This move has further cemented the scheme’s focus on delivering the London-to-Birmingham section while abandoning ambitions for high-speed rail links between the north.
Looking Ahead: East-West Rail Links in the North
The Government has announced plans to repurpose the High-Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill to prioritise improvements in east-to-west rail links across the North of England. This shift in strategy aims to address long-standing issues with regional connectivity, though it represents a stark departure from HS2’s original vision of a north-south high-speed network.
What started out as an ambitious plan to revolutionise the UK’s railway infrastructure has now turned into a controversial and curtailed project. While the first phase between London and Birmingham remains on schedule, the scrapping of the northern leg raises more questions about the long-term benefits of this initiative, especially for regions like the East Midlands and the North. Critics argue that the changes undermine the economic and connectivity goals that HS2 was designed to achieve, leaving a large hole in the UK’s transport strategy.
