“With growing speculation regarding the future of HS2, should Lichfield have its own HS2 station?” Michael Fabricant asks.

“With spiralling costs and the Government’s own Infrastructure and Projects Authority saying that delivery of High Speed 2 is ‘unachievable’, I have been pressing the Government to end construction of the line where it joins the west coast main line at Handsacre if not scrap the whole thing.  I don’t think the Government will do the latter as the cost of restoring the land would be astronomical, but ending the line at Handsacre makes sense as High Speed trains can then carry on up north to Manchester and beyond using the existing track albeit not at 180mph.

“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 HS2 tunnels underneath the A38.  There could be sufficient space for car parking and easy links to the A38.

“If HS2 were to continue unchanged, a Lichfield station would not be on the cards.  But if it were at the head of the line, the argument becomes much stronger.

“So, this is all hypothetical, but is possible from an engineering standpoint.  The question is:  would Lichfield want this?  I will be taking soundings with the District Council and would welcome feedback from constituents.”