Mayor's anger at 'eleventh hour' changes to high speed rail route

DONCASTER's executive mayor has criticised 'last minute' changes to the route the proposed HS2 rail line will take through South Yorkshire.
Fresh plans for the HS2 route through Yorkshire have been publishedFresh plans for the HS2 route through Yorkshire have been published
Fresh plans for the HS2 route through Yorkshire have been published

Ros Jones expressed shock at HS2’s decision to move the path of the line significantly to the east of its original planned route as part of a wider package of changes.

The line was originally supposed to snake between Rotherham and Sheffield, stopping at a new station at Meadowhall.

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Under new plans, which will save £1 billion in construction costs, the Meadowhall station has been scrapped and the line will now pass between Rotherham and Doncaster.

A spur off the mainline near Chesterfield will take two services an hour off the main route and into the existing Sheffield Midland station.

The changes represent a partial victory for Sheffield Council and the city’s business community which had campaigned for the line to be diverted through the city and a new station built at Victoria.

HS2 judged that to be too expensive but the decision to build a spur bringing some services into the city ensures passengers will be able to travel directly from Sheffield to Birmingham and London on HS2.

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However, the changed plan means fresh uncertainty for communities and businesses which now find themselves in the path of the line.

Ms Jones said: “I support the national HS2 project and recognise its importance to our country. However, I am shocked and surprised by these significant last minute changes.

“They have never been suggested during the last four years so it is extremely disappointing that local people and our communities are being put in this position at the eleventh hour.

“I understand the financial challenges facing the project, but saving money must not be achieved at the expense of people living in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and the wider Sheffield City Region.

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“I have spoken to local councillors and we will be doing everything we can to support people whose homes may be affected and those communities that will be impacted if these new plans go ahead.”

Ms Jones warned she would not support any proposals that hit communities without offering benefits in return and said she was seeking an urgent meeting with the Government.

South Yorkshire MPs also expressed concern at the revised plans and the scrapping of the Meadowhall station.

Wentworth and Deare MP John Healey said: “Big transport funding has heavily favoured London for years, so I’ve been ready to back any economic investment that shifts the balance more to the North. But I am dismayed to see these surprise new plans to drop Meadowhall as South Yorkshire’s HS2 stop.

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“The number one purpose of this change is clearly to cut costs, and I fear the so-called ‘spur line’ into Sheffield is simply a sop to the city. We can’t have the new High Speed line to Leeds running right through South Yorkshire but not stopping in South Yorkshire.”

Mr Healey said he, Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband and others from the area would be pressing the Government to look again at the issue.

The Government is expected to make a final decision about the route and stations in Yorkshire by the end of the year.