Hello everyone,
Last week’s digest contained tidbits of information. This week we focus on a single topic – the launch of the ‘Access to Toton’ report. The report was published last Thursday and Richard, Ian and myself joined the (virtual) event to hear Sir John Peace, chair of Midlands Connect, introduce the far-reaching proposals to access the new Hub Station at Toton. The main message we took away was the firm intention to deliver a significant chunk of infrastructure to Toton within the next 10 years i.e. well in advance of HS2 services being delivered. The launch was covered in local news reports but in case you missed it…
1. Access to Toton I: the Map
- Here is a link to a map of the proposals – in case the image below isn’t very readable. The map has been extracted from the full report, see below for the link.
- The map illustrates ambitious plans that is designed to make the Hub Station the epicentre of regional transport infrastructure. It shows not only enhanced east/west links between Derby and Nott’m but also north/south links to/from Mansfield and East Midlands Airport.
- The infrastructure covers:
- new tramways – Toton Lane to the Station & Long Eaton and then beyond to East Midlands Airport and Derby.
- new bus links – primarily a Bus Rapid Transit link between the Station and Derby.
- new roads – Long Eaton into the Station.
- new rail links to/from a new rail station at East Midlands Airport.
- Delivery of these works is split into 3 phases, with the first phase scheduled to be completed by 2030.
2. Access to Toton II: the Costs
- Here is a link to a breakdown of the costs of these proposals – a total of £2.7 billion.
- The first phase (up to 2030) is the cheapest at £455 million and includes:
- Tram extension to the Station/Long Eaton: £115m
- Bus Rapid Transit to Derby: £85m
- Road access from A6005 (Long Eaton): £15m
- Rail connections from Toton to Nott’m/Derby/Leicester: £150m
- Rail connections from Toton to Mansfield & Ilkeston (reopen the Maid Marian line to passenger traffic): £85m
- Phases 2 & 3 total £2.25 billion and covers the construction of the new rail station at East Midlands Airport as well as new rail lines to/from the Airport and Derby as well as extensions of the tram network to the Airport and Derby.
- These figures do not include the costs of building the Station itself. So, the assumption is that HS2 Ltd will pull forward their plans to get the station built in advance of HS2 services going live.
3. Access to Toton III: the Report
- Here is a link to the full Access to Toton report. It’s not a long document (20 pages) and is very readable. It is worth having a look to understand the detail since, as mentioned, these are hugely ambitious proposals. The report makes very clear the sheer scale of change coming our way. And this is just the transport infrastructure!
- The next step is that Midlands Connect will shortly submit the report to the government along with a request for £4.5 million to fund the next stage – to turn these proposals into detailed designs, engineering solutions and costs for Phase One of the scheme.
- Richard was selected (he was the only non-journalist) to ask a question at the launch event and he asked for confirmation that active travel routes (walking, cycling) were going to be fully integrated into the designs for the Station as the report doesn’t cover cycleways or footpaths in any great detail. We were assured the next stage of detailed designs will definitely incorporate active travel routes from nearby communities.
- There is a lot to absorb in the report and the Steering Group have yet to fully assess the impacts for our Area and on our Plan. But, rest assured, we will be keeping a close watch and aiming to provide our input to the detailed design phase.
- If you would like to read some comments arising from the event, here are links to:
- Nottingham Post article published last Thursday.
- East Midlands Business Link article published last Friday.
4. COVID-19 links and associated information…
- Neighbourhood contacts/sites:
- Toton Churches offer support to self-isolating people in Toton. Get in touch via: E-mail contact@totonchurches.org or phone 0115 946 2357.
- Chilwell Valley & Meadows Surgeries COVID-19
- Beeston Chilwell Area Mutual Aid Group
- Toton Support Group
- Broxtowe Borough Council COVID-19
5. And finally…
- Annual Report and Accounts 2019. I promised last week to publish our 2019 Report. However, given the importance to focus on the Access for Toton report this week, it isn’t appropriate for our report be presented as something of a postscript. So even though it is ready to be published, I’ll hold it over to next week. Another occasion to bate your breath a little longer!
If you have comments/observations about the Access report, please feel free to get in touch either via the website or direct to me and I’ll collate them together. Many thanks
Kind regards
Graham
Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme