East Midlands Hub railway station

In 2009, the Labour Government created High Speed Two (HS2) Limited[4] to examine the prospect of further high-speed rail in the United Kingdom. Later in 2010, the Coalition Government confirmed there would be a terminus in both Leeds and Manchester. In January 2013 the final route was announced[5] with a new station being proposed for Leeds and a new station adjacent to Piccadilly station for the terminus in Manchester. Both Leeds and Manchester were to have junctions to the south of the cities allowing for connections to the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line respectively. The East Midlands Hub station was announced at the same time and would be on the Leeds branch of HS2, between Birmingham and Sheffield.

Proposed layout of the East Midlands Hub station at Toton.

The station would be a newly constructed site making use of existing railway land at Toton sidings. The proposals provide for a total of eight platforms, four of which would be for high-speed rail services and four for local and regional services. Two high-speed through lines would also be provided for services not stopping at the East Midlands Hub. The platforms would be constructed at ground level, with the station entrance and forecourt built at a higher elevation to the east. The site lies on designated green belt land, but is almost entirely surrounded by urban areas. The station is sited on existing railway land. Construction time of the station itself is estimated at five years, with services to be tested in 2031 and running by 2032/33.[6]

The government selected the East Midlands Hub station at Toton as it was the "best of all the options HS2 Ltd developed for serving the East Midlands market as a whole". It offers approx. 175 acres (70 ha) including existing companies on the site. The main alternative considered was for an HS2 station to be developed as part of the existing Derby station. High Speed Two Limited stated that this proposal would see a drop in the number of passengers travelling to and from Nottingham (and the wider area) and that £190 million of additional fare revenue could be made from the Toton Hub proposal when compared with a Derby-based HS2 station. In their consultation document, High Speed Two Limited stated that the Toton hub station could attract three-quarters of London-bound passengers from Derby and four-fifths of those from Nottingham.[7]

In July 2013 Derby City Council put forward plans to route HS2 through Derby via Swadlincote and near to Belper, arguing that the route would be shorter and cheaper to construct. Council leader Cllr Paul Bayliss stated "It's not a secret we've been looking at HS2 having a station in Derby rather in some place called Toton". These plans are opposed by Nottingham City Council, which stated it would prepare a study to describe why Toton would be the best option.[8]

In addition to the plans to locate an HS2 station in Derby, consideration was given to constructing the line through East Midlands Parkway and upgrading the existing station there. This would result in the line taking a different, more expensive route and High Speed Two Limited concluded that even with the cost of adding new connecting services to Toton factored in, a Toton station would be cheaper to build than an HS2 station at East Midlands Parkway. The green belt designation of the land at East Midlands Parkway was also felt to be a significant planning constraint that the Toton site was not subject to.[9] Despite this, the plan to construct via East Midlands Parkway was supported by two councillors representing the Borough of Rushcliffe, who claimed the East Midlands Parkway site would retain good access to road links in the area whilst benefiting from a connection to the existing rail network.[10] Routing HS2 via East Midlands Parkway was later formally supported by Rushcliffe Borough Council after a meeting in December 2013.[11]

• High Speed 2 Official Website