MP urges HS2 to reconsider planned route

John Healey wants HS2 Ltd to reconsider the new route it revealed weeks ago, which will take the line through Aston, Bramley, Wales, Mexborough and the Dearne Valley.

It was controversially moved from an option which took the line via a proposed interchange at Meadowhall.

Now the Wentworth and Dearne MP has demanded that the Meadowhall option be reconsidered.

The new route has caused uproar by proposing a line through housing estates and businesses, sparking protest meetings and a march of angry homeowners.

Mr Healey told new transport secretary Chris Grayling that he was “dismayed” that Meadowhall has been dropped in favour of an option which only offers a normal spur line from the fast track into Sheffield.

The new route offers no South Yorkshire stations on the high speed line itself.

In a letter to Mr Grayling, Mr Healey called for the Secretary of State “to commission HS2 to undertake a study of the feasibility and benefits of a mainline South Yorkshire station, on the HS2 route rather than on a loop of standard rail track in central Sheffield”. 

Mr Healey said that he had sought support from HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins for the study but would require the green light from the transport secretary before it could go ahead. 

Mr Healey said the change to the route had “come out of the blue” and he was “dismayed” by the new proposals. 

In a separate letter to Sir David, Mr Healey urged the HS2 boss to work with Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster councils to address concerns over the proposed route.