MP’s plea over airport rail link rejection

TORYMP Nick Fletcher has urged the Government to think again after Ministers rejected a plan to construct a rail link and station at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

In a letter sent by Rail Minister Chris Heaton- Harris, it says the Department for Transport ‘ does not believe that the proposed scheme will deliver value for money in its current guise’.

Don Valley MP Mr Fletcher said: “I am urging the Department for Transport to reassess its decision, especially as 1.4 million passengers used Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2019 alone.”

Mr Fletcher has been dealt a second blow during October as the Government announced earlier in the month the town would not be getting a new hospital despite Health Secretary Matt Hancock visiting Doncaster Royal Infirmary just weeks after the Don Valley MP was elected.

Aviation minister Paul Maynard visited airport bosses in

February to view plans for the £ 10m terminal expansion and ambitions for a railway station and new line linking the East Coast Mainline and the Doncaster/ Lincoln line. Mr Maynard at the time said the scheme looked like a ‘ very appealing project’.

Airport bosses said the railway station and 4.5 mile track scheme is ‘ shovel ready,’ would cost over £ 200m, take just five years to deliver and has ‘ no impact on existing homes and businesses’.

A further £ 1.5m was being sought to complete feasibility work into the scheme, expected to cost in excess of £ 200m, and that it did not meet the Treasury’s ‘ green book’ criteria on infrastructure.

Both South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis and Doncaster mayor Ros Jones have responded to Mr Heaton- Harris stating a desire to continue working with officials, and the airport, to bring the proposal to fruition.