East Midlands Hub

[MidlandMainlie]

Interesting to listen to listen to Sir David Higgins talk about the East Midlands Hub and where it should be located in his speech and the HS2 Rebalancing Britain report.

EASTERN LEG
East Midlands hub
A combination of geography, historic land use and existing infrastructure
makes it difficult to come up with the perfect solution for the East
Midlands. The current proposal suggests a new station for HS2 at Toton,
located between Derby and Nottingham, to maximise the benefit for
the whole region and avoid a zero-sum game in which one city gains
at the expense of the other. To their credit both cities recognise that
and, therefore, fundamentally I believe the East Midlands hub continues
to make sense. There is a question, however, as to whether the particular
location at Toton is the best physical choice. It is clear from discussions
with local stakeholders, and considering our broader strategic objectives,
that the right location is one which delivers the best fit with existing
services, especially to Derby and Nottingham.
For those reasons I am now proposing we investigate alternative station
sites to the west of Toton, which can provide much better road and rail
connections via the M1 and Midland Main Line respectively. Our aim
should be to find a solution which provides new and better links to the
centres of Derby and Nottingham and the wider region, while providing
road access for Leicester. The East Midlands hub would greatly improve
not just North-South connectivity, but also East-West links across
the Midlands. The journey time from Nottingham to Birmingham, for
instance, would be transformed.

http://assets.hs2.org.uk/sites/default/files/Rebalancing Britain.pdf page 30

I acknowledge that Toton is not ideal when it concerns to road and rail access, but neither is the alternative at Breaston, which would have better links to the Nottingham - Derby line but would be impossible to link to the tram and the road links in that area would need a major upgrade. Not to mention the site is green belt (vs Brownfield at Toton) and is on the Erewash floodplain; and as the Leader of Erewash Borough made clear they support the sighting of EMH at Toton but are opposed to Breaston.

Now if Higgins wants to move the EMH away from Toton to allow better road access and connectivity with the MML then to me the most obvious location is East Midlands Parkway station to the south (just off J24 of the M1), which has easy access to South Nottingham via the A453 and Derby via the A50. It would also allow interchange between services from Nottingham, Derby and Loughborough/Leicester which are overlooked in the East Midlands HS2 debate.

Is such a routing possible?

 

[HowardGWR]

In another part of the report he discounts it. I'm puzzled too.

 

[bangor-toad]

Add me down as another puzzled one...

In the original studies for the EMH there was an options analysis of the various places a station could go somewhere to the west of the M1.
All of them were rejected as they would have difficult road access and would not be in a position to encourage development around the sites.
From memory, one option basically split Breaston & Draycott and the other was squeezed in next to the M1 pretty much where the reservoir is.

The bit that confuses me is "road access from Leicester".
Leaving aside any questions of "why?", the trip up the M1 and then onto the A52 to pass the Toton site isn't that bad - it's *far* easer than getting to Breaston or Draycott...

Whilst Toton is awkward for rail connections at least it is a brownfield site, it has easy access to the M1 via the A52 and the tram extension to the site is safeguarded.

I wonder what's going to happen with this?
Mr Toad

 

[21C101]

Personally I'm wondering if this announcement about Toton along with the "HS3" Manchester - Leeds link is the beginning of a process that will see abandonment of the eastern part of phase 2 which I've always considered to be a bit of a white elephant.

It wont serve any of Sheffield, Derby or Nottingham properly. The promoters of Toton (or wherever it is going to be now) really ought to spend some time at East Midlands Parkway before duplicating it.

From Derby or Nottingham it will probably still be faster city centre to city centre on East Midlands Trains than from Toton Parkway and few will want to get a class 150 to Toton and change there (especially not peak hour business travellers)

Seems to me the logical thing to do is build a single route London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds. If the route speculated above for"HS3" via Hoyland is the chosen route, then a South Yorkshire Parkway Station for Sheffield/Rotherham could be built near Junction 36 of the M1, which would be little more inconvenient for Sheffield than one at Meadowhall.

Its not as if the Midland Mainline is exactly bursting the seams. It could easily carry 8 per hour intercities as opposed to the current 5 per hour and many of them are four or five cars compared with eleven cars for most Pendolinos on the west coast main line.

 

[NotATrainspott]

Personally I'm wondering if this announcement about Toton along with the "HS3" Manchester - Leeds link is the beginning of a process that will see abandonment of the eastern part of phase 2 which I've always considered to be a bit of a white elephant.

It wont serve any of Sheffield, Derby or Nottingham properly. The promoters of Toton (or wherever it is going to be now) really ought to spend some time at East Midlands Parkway before duplicating it.

From Derby or Nottingham it will probably still be faster city centre to city centre on East Midlands Trains than from Toton Parkway and few will want to get a class 150 to Toton and change there (especially not peak hour business travellers)

Seems to me the logical thing to do is build a single route London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds. If the route speculated above for"HS3" via Hoyland is the chosen route, then a South Yorkshire Parkway Station for Sheffield/Rotherham could be built near Junction 36 of the M1, which would be little more inconvenient for Sheffield than one at Meadowhall.

Its not as if the Midland Mainline is exactly bursting the seams. It could easily carry 8 per hour intercities as opposed to the current 5 per hour and many of them are four or five cars compared with eleven cars for most Pendolinos on the west coast main line.

I can't understand where this idea that 'HS3' would replace the eastern arm of HS2 comes from. David Higgins has just said that the route needs to be built and he went into great detail to say why. If he felt it was a waste of time and effort, like the HS1-HS2 connection, then he would have recommended it be dropped immediately.

Even with a change at the Hub (on a modern EMU, since the 150s would have been scrapped years before HS2 opens) it will be faster than going via the existing route, especially when the existing mainlines will have their service patterns optimised for local and regional connections rather than non-stop services.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I thought HS3 was only going to be 100-125 mph?

 

[edwin_m]

Higgins's latest report is strongly supportive of retaining both arms of the Y so I don't see how this is preparing for abandonment.

The Breaston site between the reservoirs and the M1, or the site slightly to the north that I think is more likely, could get decent road access from J25 at the north end via Bostocks Lane and a new road alongside the M1.

Breaston may be on the flood plain but if HS2 passed through here it would have to be elevated to about the level of the M1 so as to pass over the MML. Toton is also on a flood plain.

I do agree however that East Midlands Parkway could be a good site.

HS3 is still little more than a concept, so nobody has any idea what speed it will be. It could be a combination of bits of HS2, new high speed links and existing/reinstated track where speeds would be more modest.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I got the distinct impression that HS3 may use woodhead

 

[MarkyT]

The Breaston site, presumably allowing the new alignment to follow the M1 corridor in this area, would save much expensive and disruptive work reconfiguring the classic railway yards and junctions around Toton. Breaston may be greenfield rather than Toton's brownfield status, but it looks to be broadly parallel to an existing noisy motorway corridor, although it clearly affects a whole new population of locals and potential objectors who thought they weren't going to be affected directly before. Platforms on the classic Long Eaton - Derby route at the intersection with this new HS2-E alignment could be added fairly easily alongside the existing tracks without the complex multi-track classic station proposed at Toton. If the Nottingham tram can be extended to Toton, I don't understand why it couldn't be taken a little further on to Breaston.

 

[HowardGWR]

The point is that he says that Brum from Nottingham will be very much quicker from the Breaston reservoir site. But then it would be from EMP if that were chosen. It does seem a bit late in the day and thus gives a "Pavlov dogs" impression. Not good.

 

[brianthegiant]

breaston would be a station in a beetfield, Toton would be in the middle of a conurbation. There are 60,000 people living within 3km (walking/cycling distance) of Toton but only 19,000 within 3km of Breaston. Toton makes much better sense as a sustainable travel hub.

 

[Kettledrum]

breaston would be a station in a beetfield, Toton would be in the middle of a conurbation. There are 60,000 people living within 3km (walking/cycling distance) of Toton but only 19,000 within 3km of Breaston. Toton makes much better sense as a sustainable travel hub.

I agree. I'm really puzzled as to why this is being opened up all over again.

The alternatives appear to be:

Toton - equi-distant from Derby and Nottingham - probably suits the Greater Nottingham residents, and is difficult to get to for people in North Leicestershire or Derby

Derby City Centre - not popular for Nottingham residents

East Midlands Parkway or East Midlands Airport - miles from urban areas and the existing East Midlands Parkway station has shown demand is not there

Breaston - why?

 

[21C101]

I can't understand where this idea that 'HS3' would replace the eastern arm of HS2 comes from.

Me - and I suspect it will be the Treasury who would be most keen to can the eastern part of the Y

Even with a change at the Hub (on a modern EMU, since the 150s would have been scrapped years before HS2 opens) it will be faster than going via the existing route, especially when the existing mainlines will have their service patterns optimised for local and regional connections rather than non-stop services.

It dosen't really matter what form of outer suburban train goes from Nottingham or Derby to Toton, someone who currently gets on an intercity train direct from Nottingham or Derby to London will have to get on an outer suburban train to Toton and then hang around in the cold on Toton station.

If that outer suburban train is delayed he will miss his connection and spend even longer in the cold on Toton station and might have to buy another ticket if he had a train specific ticket - all to save a few minutes off a through journey that is only one and a half hours now and will probably be less than that once electrification is finished.

Passengers HATE changing trains. Especially the first class pax who pay a small fortune for peak hour first class anytime tickets and currently settle themselves into 2+1 leather seats and spend the journey to London eating their complementary hot breakfast and driking complementary coffee.

If it was such a good idea...cough...East Midlands Parkway...cough


And I don't exactly see how there is any need to optimise the Midland Mainline for local and regional connections. By then it will be 4 track most of the way from Nottingham/Derby to London and if anything will have capacity for more expresses.

If it saved an hour it would probably be worth it, however it will take 51 minutes to London from Toton on HS2. Derby to London takes 1h29m, 38 minutes longer. So by the time you've got a train from Derby to Toton (approx 11 min journey, based on journey time to East Midlands Parkway) and allowed for a reasonable connection time (15 minutes) you save 12 minutes, then you end up at Euston, rather than St Pancras, so no option to change onto the Picc line or Thameslink (for Crossrail at Farringdon) and a routemarch to Euston Square for the Circle/met line.

 

[HowardGWR]

Why Breaston?
AIUI the connection could be made simple from Breaston because the line from Derby to Nottingham would pass under HS2 rather like the MR and LNWR at Tamworth.

- whereas in the case of Toton, the station would need two separate reversing services to the two cities (or the tram extension in the case of Nottingham.)

But perhaps I do not UI.

 

[Chris125]

Me - and I suspect it will be the Treasury who would be most keen to can the eastern part of the Y

I recall reading somewhere that the Leeds leg has the best business case of the whole project, being relatively cheap and easy to build while offering significant improvements in journey time and connectivity - I can't see any justification for dropping it, either economically or politically.

Chris

 

[21C101]

I recall reading somewhere that the Leeds leg has the best business case of the whole project, being relatively cheap and easy to build while offering significant improvements in journey time and connectivity - I can't see any justification for dropping it, either economically or politically.

Chris

I'm not suggesting Leeds being dropped, just that Leeds is served via Manchester and the western leg with a South Yorkshire Parkway near Junction 36 of the M1 for Sheffield instead of Meadowhall.

 

[MidlandMainlie]

I'm not suggesting Leeds being dropped, just that Leeds is served via Manchester and the western leg with a South Yorkshire Parkway near Junction 36 of the M1 for Sheffield instead of Meadowhall.

So what you are advocating is the "reverse S" route the Tories proposed when in opposition but rejected in the review of HS2 when they came into power.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also David Higgins was interviewed on local BBC news last night. He said that they were only looking at two options Toton or Breaston, and that Toton remained firmly on the table.

 

[21C101]

So what you are advocating is the "reverse S" route the Tories proposed when in opposition but rejected in the review of HS2 when they came into power.

Yes, because the increased speed and capacity of the newly electrified Midland Mainline which will be 4 track all the way to Chesterfield again (other than Kettering to Wigston - which will be bypassed by a redoubled Corby line) make a line which will serve none of Leicester, Derby, Nottingham or Sheffield, other than by Parkways miles away a white elephant.

At least the Great Central had the sense to put stations in Central Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

 

[unlevel42]

At least the Great Central had the sense to put stations in Central Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Sheffield did/does not have a station in its city centre. It cannot have a HS2 station in the city centre. Meadowhall is by far the best option for Sheffield and HS2.

Victoria and Midland station are not in the Sheffield city centre.
Both sites are very inconvenient for many local users.
Both would likely be eliminated on environmental grounds.
Both sites would have severe impact on local road traffic into Sheffield.
Both sites have poor road access.
Both would still need onward connections to the centre, business, commercial, retail, medical, University of Sheffield, Don valley, upper Rother etc. let alone the rest of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.
Both sites are so restricted that very little development would be possible.

 

[Altnabreac]

Me - and I suspect it will be the Treasury who would be most keen to can the eastern part of the Y




It dosen't really matter what form of outer suburban train goes from Nottingham or Derby to Toton, someone who currently gets on an intercity train direct from Nottingham or Derby to London will have to get on an outer suburban train to Toton and then hang around in the cold on Toton station.

If that outer suburban train is delayed he will miss his connection and spend even longer in the cold on Toton station and might have to buy another ticket if he had a train specific ticket - all to save a few minutes off a through journey that is only one and a half hours now and will probably be less than that once electrification is finished.

Passengers HATE changing trains. Especially the first class pax who pay a small fortune for peak hour first class anytime tickets and currently settle themselves into 2+1 leather seats and spend the journey to London eating their complementary hot breakfast and driking complementary coffee.

If it was such a good idea...cough...East Midlands Parkway...cough


And I don't exactly see how there is any need to optimise the Midland Mainline for local and regional connections. By then it will be 4 track most of the way from Nottingham/Derby to London and if anything will have capacity for more expresses.

If it saved an hour it would probably be worth it, however it will take 51 minutes to London from Toton on HS2. Derby to London takes 1h29m, 38 minutes longer. So by the time you've got a train from Derby to Toton (approx 11 min journey, based on journey time to East Midlands Parkway) and allowed for a reasonable connection time (15 minutes) you save 12 minutes, then you end up at Euston, rather than St Pancras, so no option to change onto the Picc line or Thameslink (for Crossrail at Farringdon) and a routemarch to Euston Square for the Circle/met line.

All this assumes that passenger demand from Nottingham and Derby stations is from the city centre. In reality 95% of people have to travel to the station first by local train, tram, bus, car, taxi or bike.

So the important thing is to ensure the HS2 station is well connected by all these travel modes. I suspect Toton will come out as the best option in the end but it's clear local train connections are the weak part of its case.

Breaston though has worse walking, cycling, tram and bus connections. They're probably about equal on road connections.

One thing that's clear is that a city centre station doesn't make sense as the station needs to serve Derby, Nottingham and to a lesser extent Leicester.

The Leeds leg has an excellent business case and the suggestion that a bit of 4 tracking on the MML is equivalent to a new HSL is risible.

 

[CdBrux]

If it saved an hour it would probably be worth it, however it will take 51 minutes to London from Toton on HS2. Derby to London takes 1h29m, 38 minutes longer. So by the time you've got a train from Derby to Toton (approx 11 min journey, based on journey time to East Midlands Parkway) and allowed for a reasonable connection time (15 minutes) you save 12 minutes, then you end up at Euston, rather than St Pancras, so no option to change onto the Picc line or Thameslink (for Crossrail at Farringdon) and a routemarch to Euston Square for the Circle/met line.

Well that all depends on where you are going from / to. Very few people will start their journey at Derby station and an interchange from HS2 to Crossrail at OOC may be just as attractive as an interchange to Thameslink at St P!

 

[bangor-toad]

At least the Great Central had the sense to put stations in Central Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

And is this actually important any more?

Very rarely do any of the trips I take, either for work or pleasure, have a final destination close to the station. If I'm leaving home or work I'll take a taxi or drive to the station. When I get to the other end, I'll walk, take a taxi or if convenient take the bus.

Of all the HS2 stations, I'd find the non-city centre stations easier to use. I'll be able to drive there, park and go where I want/need;
For Birmingham, the Interchange station next to the M42 is going to be *much* easier to use than going into the city centre.
Nottingham/Derby: Toton (or even Breaston if they build a link road) will be far easier to get to than the city centre and then the places I'd need to go in the area are a reasonable taxi ride away.
Sheffield: Meadowhall is easy to get to and from. There are good road/rail links and most of Sheffield & Rotherham are just a taxi drive away.

Leeds, where I used to live, is actually going to be more challenging. The city centre location means that it's hardly practical to drive and the lower provision of very early or late public transport is going to be a disincentive.


Yes, it seems as if I'm fixated by my car. But face it, that's true of the vast majority of UK residents. People like to feel they have control and cars give them that. Modal shift to rail isn't about getting rid of cars, it's about reducing their use and if you drive your efficient electric/diesel/hybrid car a few miles to the station then it'll improve overall transport massively...


Anyway, it's for these reasons that I think that the parkway style stations are the best idea.
(And before you say "East Midlands Parkway", I have actually used it when I've been in the area. It was much simpler to leave from then try to drive into one of the surrounding cities to park. Shame it's only effectively got 2 trains an hour right next to each other - it'd be more attractive if it had trains stopping there. OK, I will accept there's almost no reason to go there as a destination...)

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[HowardGWR]

Yes, yes, but did I get it right about the advantages of Breaston please? (post 14)?

That's the subject of the thread.

 

[21C101]

The Leeds leg has an excellent business case and the suggestion that a bit of 4 tracking on the MML is equivalent to a new HSL is risible.

When the journey time is only about half an hour slower and the line only has 5 intercities an hour at the moment, half of which are about four or five coaches long, its far from risible.

 

[RichmondCommu]

All this assumes that passenger demand from Nottingham and Derby stations is from the city centre. In reality 95% of people have to travel to the station first by local train, tram, bus, car, taxi or bike.

So the important thing is to ensure the HS2 station is well connected by all these travel modes. I suspect Toton will come out as the best option in the end but it's clear local train connections are the weak part of its case.


Breaston though has worse walking, cycling, tram and bus connections. They're probably about equal on road connections.

One thing that's clear is that a city centre station doesn't make sense as the station needs to serve Derby, Nottingham and to a lesser extent Leicester.

The Leeds leg has an excellent business case and the suggestion that a bit of 4 tracking on the MML is equivalent to a new HSL is risible.

I'm sorry but you are incorrect with regard to Toton. The weakest part of the case for Toton is the A52 which is only going to get worse in the years to come. The point is customers will always be reluctant to change trains when they currently have a direct service to London.

For many people living in the East Midlands Toton is anything but convenient. Whilst I accept that you could not have a route which directly serves both Derby and Nottingham we should have two separate spurs to both cities for a limited direct service via the HS line.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When the journey time is only about half an hour slower and the line only has 5 intercities an hour at the moment, half of which are about four or five coaches long, its far from risible.

I concur. Indeed both NR and the DfT have both suggested that service levels on the MML will not be affected by the construction of HS2.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Well that all depends on where you are going from / to. Very few people will start their journey at Derby station and an interchange from HS2 to Crossrail at OOC may be just as attractive as an interchange to Thameslink at St P!

And living in Belgium you know this because......

 

[edwin_m]

Very rarely do any of the trips I take, either for work or pleasure, have a final destination close to the station. If I'm leaving home or work I'll take a taxi or drive to the station. When I get to the other end, I'll walk, take a taxi or if convenient take the bus.

That may be true for your own journeys but you're not speaking for all future potential passengers.

Many will prefer to travel into their local city centre by public transport and catch a high speed service from there, and will do so without adding to local road congestion. Inward visitors, particularly tourists and business travellers, will be disproprortionately heading for the city centre. And who knows how easy/difficult road travel will be in the 2030s?

To me it is essential that the high speed rail network gives access to the city centres. If this is not possible by direct service, as it probably isn't at Nottingham, Derby or Sheffield, then there should be a fast and frequent connecting service (which probably means heavy rail).

 

[21C101]

That may be true for your own journeys but you're not speaking for all future potential passengers.

Many will prefer to travel into their local city centre by public transport and catch a high speed service from there, and will do so without adding to local road congestion. Inward visitors, particularly tourists and business travellers, will be disproprortionately heading for the city centre. And who knows how easy/difficult road travel will be in the 2030s?

To me it is essential that the high speed rail network gives access to the city centres. If this is not possible by direct service, as it probably isn't at Nottingham, Derby or Sheffield, then there should be a fast and frequent connecting service (which probably means heavy rail).

This. (highlighted in bold above)

Also both the Nottingham and Sheffield Tram Systems have their hub as the City Centre & Mainline station.

Yes Meadowhall and (probably) Toton will be served by trams but it is the equivalent of having the London HS2 terminal at West Ruislip and expecting everyone to get the Central line or Chiltern from Marylebone to it then change.

 

[tbtc]

I agree. I'm really puzzled as to why this is being opened up all over again

It may be as simple as "coming up with a weaker alternative so that Toton appears a better solution" - essentially using Breaston as a straw man?

Or it could be a last gasp attempt to get an alternative on the table - look at how Stoke have found a new lease of life, now the penny has dropped and Crewe looks like being a certainty!

I'm not suggesting Leeds being dropped, just that Leeds is served via Manchester and the western leg with a South Yorkshire Parkway near Junction 36 of the M1 for Sheffield instead of Meadowhall.

What?

Replacing an HS2 station at Meadowhall (frequent trams and trains into Sheffield city centre) for one at Junction 36 (a public transport free zone)? That'd suit nobody!

Sheffield did/does not have a station in its city centre. It cannot have a HS2 station in the city centre. Meadowhall is by far the best option for Sheffield and HS2.

Victoria and Midland station are not in the Sheffield city centre.
Both sites are very inconvenient for many local users.
Both would likely be eliminated on environmental grounds.
Both sites would have severe impact on local road traffic into Sheffield.
Both sites have poor road access.
Both would still need onward connections to the centre, business, commercial, retail, medical, University of Sheffield, Don valley, upper Rother etc. let alone the rest of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.
Both sites are so restricted that very little development would be possible.

I agree.

I love Sheffield, but the good things about Sheffield (the Peak District, the real ale...) aren't the kind of things that count for HS2 - and in HS2 terms, Sheffield isn't important enough to divert the London - Leeds line through.

I wouldn't complain if they built an HS2 stop on my doorstep, but I realise why they aren't going to and I'm okay with that

Yes, yes, but did I get it right about the advantages of Breaston please? (post 14)?

That's the subject of the thread.

Yes (and sorry for continuing the off-topic stuff). Breaston is one of the sites I'd be considering in the East Midlands - I think that Toton offers more, but I also think that a station directly on the Nottingham - Derby line needs to be at least considered as an option (since it'd tick some boxes that Toton doesn't)

Whilst I accept that you could not have a route which directly serves both Derby and Nottingham we should have two separate spurs to both cities for a limited direct service via the HS line

Since HS2 capacity is eighteen an hour, any service for Derby or Nottingham (or Sheffield) would have to come at the expense of a service from London/Birmingham to Leeds/ Newcastle/ Scotland (if HS2 runs to Scotland via the East Coast).

Even if we scrapped one of the Leeds/Newcastle services in favour of one that terminated at Nottingham, that'd mean the East Midlands lost its other HS2 services (since I think that the idea of a direct city centre HS2 station *and* a stop on the main line is unrealistic).

In the grand scheme of things, Nottingham and Derby are b-list places, like Sheffield.

both NR and the DfT have both suggested that service levels on the MML will not be affected by the construction of HS2

I can believe that. Given another fifteen/twenty years of growth, we'll probably be able to fill existing MML services with just the passengers from Chesterfield/ Loughborough/ Leicester/ Luton to Sheffield/ Derby/ Nottingham/ London.

HS2 won't mean any existing lines closing, it'll just mean that services on existing lines can be tailored to the local markets on those lines (e.g. at the moment there's no scope for more services to stop at Loughborough or Belper because that'd delay the longer distance traffic. Once a large amount of that long distance traffic moves to HS2, there's scope for more Belper/ Loughborough stops.

 

[quantinghome]

Let's not forget that by having the HS2 eastern leg cross-cutting the existing mainlines, it will transform cross-country journeys. An hour off Birmingham-Leeds (and all points North too - York, Newcastle), and quicker, more reliable journeys between Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham in trains where there's a chance of getting a seat and won't smell of toilets.

I can see why HS2 have gone for non-city centre locations for East Midlands and Sheffield (even the HighSpeedUK proposal which claims to be radically different to HS2 is proposing Meadowhall as the stop on their high speed route). However, given there are about 8 trains per hour planned for the eastern leg, there is spare capacity to run high speed regional services and these would need chords from HS2 at places like Meadowhall to link city centres directly.

 

[edwin_m]

However, given there are about 8 trains per hour planned for the eastern leg, there is spare capacity to run high speed regional services and these would need chords from HS2 at places like Meadowhall to link city centres directly.

This could be what Higgins is thinking of when the latest report talks about improving links across the Midlands.