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# Leader unhappy after new rail line plans are unveiled without consultation with county council
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/leader-unhappy-after-new-rail-line-plans-are-unveiled-without-consultation-with-county-council/
- Published: 2026-01-22T08:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-21T13:34:33.000Z
- Description: Council chiefs have criticised the Government for unveiling plans for a new rail line without consulting them.
- Author: Kerry Ashdown, Local Democracy Reporter
- Tags: Politics, Transport, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:11, News

COUNCIL chiefs have criticised the Government for unveiling plans for a new rail line without consulting them.

The link is being proposed between Manchester and Birmingham as part of plans to create greater capacity and connectivity on the West Coast Main Line.

But Staffordshire County Council’s acting leader has written to the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander to request an urgent meeting after details of the line were revealed this month as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail plans.

The new route is not being billed as a revival of the scrapped HS2 phase two project.

Speaking at a Staffordshire County Council cabinet meeting, Reform UK’s acting leader Cllr Martin Murray said there was “scant detail” about the proposed line.

He added:

> “I know that will cause concern for many of our communities who have been blighted by the previous HS2 proposal.  
>  
> “I have written to Government and the two Mayors who made this policy without even consulting – without even informing – Staffordshire that they plan to go straight through our county again with not even the decency to involve us with that.  
>  
> “I want to make it clear the council will not stand by silently while another major infrastructure project is planned without proper consultation with the people of this county.  
>  
> “We are urgently seeking clarity from the Government on its intentions.”

Cllr Murray has also said that Staffordshire will not be “the forgotten county” when it comes to Government planning.

> “Our communities have endured years of disruption and destruction due to the failed and mis‑handled HS2 programme, and the absence of detail accompanying the latest announcement leaves residents and businesses facing further uncertainty – potentially for the next decade and beyond.  
>  
> “This is unacceptable, and clarity is urgently required.  
>  
> “Just because the county is not represented by an elected mayor and combined authority does not mean it can be ignored. We will not be the forgotten county.”

Staffordshire County Council’s last leader under the former Conservative administration, Alan White, called on Parliament in 2024 to repeal the Act enabling the second leg of HS2 through the area after the scheme was scrapped.

The request was made to remove uncertainty for residents who had been affected.

Speaking in May 2024 he said:

> “The West Midlands and Manchester Mayors have ambitions to run a railway line through our beautiful county – well they can think again.  
>  
> “There is no way we in this chamber are going to tolerate other people outside this county telling us what we should and shouldn’t do with our land, especially when it might mean the rail service for Staffordshire residents gets worse not better.”