TOUTED FOR TOTON
High Speed 2
Will a railway station open at Toton sidings in the East Midlands years before High Speed 2 arrives?
That would appear to be the situation following an agreement backed by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and local agencies to work together on plans to open a Network Rail (or equivalent) East Midlands Hub station at Toton before HS2 Phase 2b opens, currently scheduled for 2033. As part of the deal the parties have committed to work towards partially opening the station ‘in the 2020s’, which even if towards the end of the decade would see what would ultimately be an HS2 interchange opening four years before the high-speed railway it will serve.
Why? Well, apart from being an HS2 jumping on and off point for residents and workers in Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, the area around Toton sidings is earmarked for some serious building work. East Midlands Councils and Midlands Connect – which represents councils and local enterprise partnerships across the Midlands – talk of regeneration and development of the ‘Midlands Engine’. Boosting transport links would help support this. Given that many are wary of the pressure building on busy roads in the vicinity, including the A52,…