MIPIM latest: Pick Everard calls for East Midlands Airport stop to be considered

Pick Everard’s managing partner Duncan Green has called on HS2 to rethink part of its route for the second phase to include a stop at the East Midlands Airport.

Green, who has engaged with local authorities and HS2 on the proposals for an East Midlands Hub railway station at Toton, said that he has heard “no rational argument” from the government or HS2 to explain why a stop hasn’t been included at the airport in the plans for the new speed railway line.

Speaking to Building at MIPIM, Green said: “The HS2 track on the second phase tunnels directly underneath the East Midlands Airport. The opportunity to enhance the entire region by connecting these two up is immense.”

Green, who said he has lobbied HS2 about the new station, added: “I have heard no rational argument from the government to explain why this project hasn’t been adopted.”

The call from Pick Everard comes as the National Infrastructure Commission stated in a report that the government needed to speed up infrastructure investment in the North to unlock the region’s economic potential. The report said the region needed “immediate and significant investment”.

George Osborne is expected to give the green light to HS3 in the budget tomorrow.