Campaigners have called for HS2 to be axed immediately – with the land already used returned to nature.
Questions have been raised over the long-term future of the route north of Lichfield, with speculation suggesting the leg to Manchester will not go ahead as planned.
It means the controversial high speed line, which cuts through Lichfield and the surrounding villages, could end in Handsacre.
Penny Gaines, chair of the Stop HS2 campaign group, said:
“It’s time the government put this white elephant out of its misery and cancelled HS2 in full.
“The remaining section between the London suburbs and Birmingham clearly has no economic case and is causing huge environmental damage.
“There was never a good case for HS2 to start off with, and commuting patterns have massively changed over the last decade, especially with the pandemic.
“Video-conferencing and other digital technologies – which we have said were an alternative right from the start – have had a much faster growth than expected, while construction costs increases have far out-stripped inflation, making the HS2 economic case even weaker than before.
“HS2 should be cancelled in its entirety as soon as possible.”
Penny Gaines, Stop HS2
The potential early termination of the line has led to Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant questioning whether or not a HS2 station could be built in the city.
He said:
“So far, Lichfield District has suffered all of the pain with none of the gain.
“I am now beginning to wonder whether there is now an argument for Lichfield to have its own station if it is now going to be the northern end of the high-speed line.
“The siting of the station could not be adjacent to the existing Lichfield Trent Valley station, but might be where the current HS2 site is placed just south of where the line tunnels underneath the A38 – there could be sufficient space for car parking and easy links to the A38.”
Michael Fabricant
