New 'parkway' station could be built in East Midlands
A FUTURE high-speed rail line could see a new "parkway" station built in the East Midlands.
The idea was raised by Sir David Rowlands, who is heading a group commissioned by the Government to suggest the best routes for the possible high-speed network.
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Nottingham Parkway station
The group is due to report back to the Government at the end of December – but Sir David has signalled the best route may run directly through the region.
The East Midlands Parkway station opened next to Ratcliffe-on-Soar earlier this year, so any new station would need to take a different name. It is not yet known where it would be sited.
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"We have not done detailed work into specific sites where stops might go in the East Midlands, said Sir David Rowlands.
"But, looking at it, you may need to find a solution that serves more than one of the cities.
"Taken individually, Nottingham, Leicester or Derby may not have adequate capacity for a high-speed line. They are not as big as Birmingham or Manchester.
"But if you take them together, and have something that can serve all three, that's maybe the best way to go."
So far, the country has one high-speed line, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which runs 109 miles from the coast to London using 140mph "Javelin" trains.
Earlier this year, the Government set up High Speed 2 and asked it to look into the viability of a link between London and Birmingham and possibilities for extending the line to Scotland.
The group has considered several models but Sir David says a "Y" shaped option could be the "best performing" – in terms of the benefits, weighed against costs.
The 'Y' would see trains running from London to Birmingham, at which point it would split with one branch going to Manchester and a second branch going to Leeds.
The stretch of the "Y" running from Birmingham to Leeds would pass through the East Midlands, giving planners the option of stopping at a main city or somewhere in between.
Business chiefs in the city welcomed the possibility of high-speed rail coming to the East Midlands but warned that some of the benefits might be lost if it was not closely connected to a city.
John Dowson, from the Notts and Derbyshire Chamber said: "If a station was connected to a city rather than a parkway it would cut connecting traffic.
"The time it would take to get to a parkway would also negate the shorter journey times of the high-speed train itself.
"But obviously there are huge benefits to high-speed rail and we want to be a part of it."
After High Speed 2 reports, the Government is expected to make a decision on proposals next year.
newsdesk@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk
Comments
by Richard, Chilwell
Friday, December 04 2009, 2:00PM
“*sigh* ...or the high speed trains could just use the existing Nottingham and Derby stations, which are located in the city centres.
It is possible to connect new lines to the existing lines you know.”
by Stanley, London
Thursday, December 03 2009, 11:24PM
“David Rowlands says that Derby, Nottingham and Leicester do not have "adequate capacity" (sic) for their own station.
I can tell him that Nottingham provides the 4th most trips to London (as many as Newcastle and 25% more than Sheffield) and 9th most revenue of cities on the long distance network.
Leicester has almost as many trips to London as Nottingham and Derby has about 60% as many. I suspect Sheffield will have enough "capacity" for a proper station.”
by David F, Derby
Thursday, December 03 2009, 11:19PM
“A parkway station located in the middle of nowhere - like East Midlands Parkway - could be a disadvantage to all of the East Midlands cities, but if the line was to follow the Erewash Valley a station located close to the A52/M1 junction could be advantageous to both Derby and Nottingham. Remember, there are about 1m people living in this conurbation, and probably about 4m-5m people living within an hours drive of this junction. Some road improvements may be necessary, but the Red Arrow bus takes less than 15 minutes from crossing the railway at Toton to Derby city centre, and about 20 minutes to the Victoria Centre, so connectivity with the centres of the two cities shouldn't be a problem.
Because of the A52, M1, A610, etc., a station located at Toton could be of great benefit to the whole of the Derby/Erewash/Amber Valley/Broxtowe/Nottingham/North West Leicestershire areas, and of some benefit to areas such as Rushcliffe and South Derbyshire if the M1 junction at Kegworth could be improved and a new connection built between the A50 and A52 avoiding Derby's ring road .”
by Stanley, London
Thursday, December 03 2009, 11:10PM
“I'm not in favour of these Parkway stations where they replace city centre stations. They will encourage more car trips, and pull development out of city centres. One of the supposed strengths of high speed rail is the ability to serve city centres. Not this one though by the sound of it!”
by Liz, Nottingham
Thursday, December 03 2009, 5:44PM
“I agree with you, Kath, that the Parkway is not a good thing for non-drivers, and I think that eventually we could lose the fast services from Nottingham because of it. I suspect that longer-term it will cause damage to Nottingham itself as people bypass the city and no doubt business and residential development will eventually occur around the Parkway area, to Nottingham's detriment.”
by Richard, Chilwell
Thursday, December 03 2009, 2:58PM
“Just because a line doesn't stop in a city centre doesn't mean that the trains that use it can't reach those city centre stations. It's common practice across Europe to run trains off high speed lines and onto the "classic" network to reach a wide range of destinations.
If East Midlands Parkway were the location chosen for a station on the new line trains from London could easily branch off it to reach Derby or Nottingham.”
by doug, munich
Thursday, December 03 2009, 1:18PM
“to be fair, the French have parkway stations in the middle of nowhere on their TGV lines.
Perhaps Derby, Nottingham & Leicester could all merge into one, East Midlands Garden City and the station could be in the middle which would be Loughborough”
by Nick, City Centre
Thursday, December 03 2009, 12:38PM
“If there is one thing Britain leads the world in it is cost cutting bodges that end-up much more expensive. The examples are countless.
In the fifties, to save money, we built the M1 with just two lanes. As a further cost cutting exercise the bridges over the motorway were built with no allowance for future widening of the M1. When the inevitable expansion took place the bridges had to be replaced. Brilliant Sir Humphrey!
The Parkway in the middle of nowhere seems to be just such a misguided idea.”
by kath, Beeston
Thursday, December 03 2009, 10:06AM
“The problem with a Parkway station is that it privileges drivers over non-drivers. East Midlands Parkways doesn't seem very well used but has served as an excuse to cut services from Beeston, which is crowded when commuters travel and well used at other times. (I believe other smaller stations have experienced cuts in their service.) A Parkway station with a rapid train service isn't much use if travellers have to add on lots of time to reach the station.”