Battle to bring High Speed Rail to Nottingham
A BATTLE to bring high-speed rail through Nottingham has begun.
The link, announced yesterday by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and Transport Minister Paul Clark, would cut journey times to London by half, to just 53 minutes.
-
: Transport Minister Paul Clark visits Nottingham railway station.
At least one stop for the 250mph trains will be placed somewhere in the East Midlands and Lord Adonis suggested it may be possible for the region to have two stations along the high-speed route.
City and county council chiefs want one of the stops to be in Nottingham and are set for talks with the Government and HS2 – the company tasked with drawing up detailed plans for the route through the East Midlands.
They will stress the benefits of basing the station in the city rather than at an out-of-town parkway.
Coun Jane Urquhart, city councillor with responsibility for transport, said a high-speed rail interchange in Nottingham would be a "sound, sustainable and value for money investment".
She added: "City centre stations provide around twice the economic benefit of out-of-town parkway facilities and Nottingham is the largest destination on the existing Midland Main Line."
Coun Richard Jackson, Notts County Council cabinet member for transport, said they were keen to work to make sure Nottingham had a city centre station with the fastest possible journey time to London.
Currently it takes just under two hours to get from Nottingham to London on the Midland Main Line.
The new high-speed link would go through Birmingham, then split into two with one route to Leeds via the East Midlands and the other to Manchester and the North-West. It will cost an estimated £30bn. Lord Adonis said the line would boost capacity and bring investment. He added: "The Government's view is that high-speed rail could play a crucial role not only in meeting reasonable future transport capacity requirements, but also in transforming connectivity between major cities."
He said stations could conceivably be either in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham, at a location in between, or in more than one city.
"Derby, Nottingham and Leicester are fairly close and the issue as to whether there should be one station or more than one station is one on which there are strongly held views in the East Midlands," he said.
HS2 will report back in the summer of 2011.
Speaking at Nottingham railway station, Mr Clark said the huge investment in high-speed rail would not affect spending on other rail projects.
"We recognise that everyone wants to get somewhere faster than they currently do," he said.
"We have a track record of having invested in our railways and that is why they have been so successful." Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson warned officials to make sure the high-speed line did not inadvertently isolate the city.
"The danger is that Nottingham ends up with a connection to the high-speed line that sucks up travellers to London, but may not be that much quicker if the connection takes 15 of 20 minutes to get to a station outside the city."
Notts Campaign for Better Transport has given only limited support to proposals.
Chairman David Thornhill said: "There are just too many imponderables, from financing, environmental issues to social exclusion that have not been explained.
''We cannot fully support HS2."
80 Comments
View all
by Mr B J Mann, Nottingham
Saturday, March 20 2010, 8:34PM
“Errrmmmmmmmmmm, paranoia?
Are you saying I imagined it?
.
As for "wild accusations", I never accused you of anything.
Just wondered if there was a connection.
Given the strangely coincidental way your posts meshed with the imposters.
.
If the cap fits, Richard, feel free to wear it!
.”
by Richard, Chilwell
Friday, March 19 2010, 4:31PM
“Whilst I find your paranoia and wild accusations amusing I'm afraid I am not the person who did any of those things.
Are you asserting that it is impossible to live a modern life without the use of a car? I find it is often surprisingly easy to get around without one.”
by Mr B J Mann, Nottingham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 3:30PM
“It just shows how weak the train lobby's case is, how little argument they can bring to the debate, and how desperate they are, if these are the kind of pathetic tactics they need to sink to.
.”
by Mr B J Mann, Nottingham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 3:09PM
“So, would Richard by the stalker who not only cut and pasted BBC Nottingham forum webpages thousands of times onto my forum and send printouts of them to my home address, but put nails in the tyres of a family car that was used to transport children on a motorway and arranged for porn emails to be sent to a family computer accessed by young children.
Over to you, Richard.
Or whatever *YOUR* real name is.
.”
by Mr B J Mann, Npttingham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 3:04PM
“Mr Stupid:
You are incredibly stupid.
Try mentioning which companies you are referring to.
.
If you have invested a £ *BILLION* in a business, of what benefit is it if it's even doubled last year's £1 profit?
And when, exactly, would you expect an energy company to increase it's profits if not in a record cold period?
During a blazing hot summer?
Do you think there are a lot of gas powered fridges and air conditioning units around in this country?
.
And nthe fact of the matter is you started off by stating that the fact of the matter is that the CBI has specifically said there should be an exploration of road pricing.
I have allready answered that.
So why are you simply starting again by repeating your original statement?
.
As for the rest of your post:
Address it to Richard:
From the "dialogue" he would appear to be the Imposter Mann!
.
By the way, perhaps he's forgotten, but satirical argument that you don't need to cross the road was a parodyin response to the local anti-car lobby's assertion that you don't need to drive.
Or, perhaps, like the spin doctor he is, he knows perfectly well!
.”
by Mr. Sensible, The Real World
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 7:45PM
“B J, I would be interested to see those companies' results over the past few years.
But lets take another privatized industry where the private company is profiteering from customers. Last February was 1 of the coldest in recent years, and yet the British Gas arm of Centrica recorded I think a 50 odd % increase in pre-tax profits.
And, the fact of the matter is that the CBI has specifically said there should be an exploration of road pricing, along with American-style school buses.
"errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Because if you come out of your house you get in your car - stupid.
You drive to the shops
You park
You buy what you want
you drive home"
Well that's certainly 1 way of doing it.
What if you were in somewhere like Beeston?
And wanted to go from Boots on 1 side of the shopping precinct to Argoss?
You'd have to cross the road!
Unless, of course, you plan to drive from the Sanesberries car park across to the multi-story for the specific purpose of avoiding crossing a road...
Thought not.”
by Richard, Chilwell
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 6:31PM
“What if the place you need to go to is opposite your house?
Yes, I personally like the way in which everywhere is connected by the real "national cycle network" - the roads.”
by B J Mann, Nottingham
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 5:32PM
“The guy impersonating "B J Mann" is really good at it, I can't tell him and the real deal apart.
Then you really are incredibly stupid Richard. When they can't answer any of my arguments they parachute in someone from London to play the Mann.
Just like "George (not his real name) Painter" who is really a traffic planner sitting in a room somewhere which just happens to be stuffed full of Nottinghamshire County Council computers.
Him and his stupid reverend friend.
I wonder when Kay Cutts will work that one out - or are her Stalinist minders sent by idiots such as Comrade Councillor Barber making sure she doesn't.
I never did understand why nobody need ever cross a road. Care to explain that one?
errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Because if you come out of your house you get in your car - stupid.
You drive to the shops
You park
You buy what you want
you drive home
repeat for other journeys.
Everywhere is road connected. Nowhere is only tram connected.
See simple isn't it unless you're incredibly stupid.
Or like George who can't drive.”
by Richard, Chilwell
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 4:48PM
“The guy impersonating "B J Mann" is really good at it, I can't tell him and the real deal apart.
I never did understand why nobody need ever cross a road. Care to explain that one?”
by Mr B J Mann, Nottingham
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 11:12AM
“As for your moronic comment on motorway "toles":
Industry knows this government isn't going to build the modern road infrastructure the country needs.
It knows rail can't fulfil its transport needs.
And that even a Victorian road system is better than rail.
But that doesn't alter the fact that there is congestion.
Which leaves, out of what the government would do, some form or road charging.
So your point is, exactly?!?!
.”