Calls for HS2 link to Derby to reduce London journey to 51 minutes

A leading councillor says the possibilities for Derby people are endless should HS2 trains serve the city ^[1] in the coming years. Carmel Swan, cabinet member for climate change, transport and sustainability, spoke with excitement during a special event held in Derby ^[2] which saw political leaders gather to make the case for HS2 carriages to serve the East Midlands.

The event at Derby’s Stuart Hotel in London Road ^[3] saw the launch of a new report which lays out the “overwhelming” case to the Government to deliver high-speed rail to the region. The report, titled “Full speed ahead: bringing high-speed rail to the East Midlands”, outlines the benefits of bringing HS2 to the East Midlands and Sheffield as proposed in the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP).

It is hoped a decision and a timetable for it to become reality will be announced sometime in the future. Under the IRP plans, HS2 services would serve Derby, Chesterfield and Nottingham stations ^[4] directly on the existing rail network – with a new high-speed route between Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway.

Derby and Chesterfield will be served by HS2 trains from London, via Birmingham Interchange, which then carry on to Sheffield. Nottingham will be served by HS2 services to and from the new station at Birmingham Curzon Street, as well as London.

The report says that when HS2 is delivered in full, “the number of people within a 90-minute rail journey of Derby will increase by more than 500,000 and an additional 600,000 people will be within 90 minutes of Chesterfield”. It is said that this will then lead to an increase in job opportunities for East Midlands residents and more trade for local businesses. This, it is also hoped, could lead to more businesses moving to Derby and Derbyshire as HS2 will serve the county.

The report adds: “Nottingham, Derby and Chesterfield can currently access an economy of around £250 million within 90 minutes by rail. With HS2 in place this figure will increase to over £550 million”.

Currently, it takes at least 1 hour and 23 minutes on the train to get to London from Derby. If an HS2 train served the city then getting to London would take just 51 minutes – meaning the capital city would be closer to Derby by 32 minutes.

Councillor Swan told guests at the special event that the people in Derby would have greater travel and work choices with London and other big cities “on the doorstep”, should HS2 services be rolled out to the East Midlands.

She said: “I think the people of London will be very lucky to have Derby on its doorstep. We are talking about people’s jobs, people’s opportunities and people’s choices here. More than anything we want to create choices for people and in order to do that we know travel is absolutely vital for people to make those choices.

“We are talking about people who can work outside of Derby. People in London may consider Derby as their destination. Derby has a fantastic growing economy. There’s a new administration and we are absolutely committed to decarbonisation. I’d like to think London will come to Derby as a direct result of HS2 in the legislation.”

References

^{^} HS2 trains serve the city (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
^{^} during a special event held in Derby (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
^{^} Stuart Hotel in London Road (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
^{^} would serve Derby, Chesterfield and Nottingham stations (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
^{^} Woman banned from seeing mum in Derbyshire care home after telling manager ‘I wish you were dead’ (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)