PLANS for a high-speed rail link at Toton Sidings are close to being abandoned, the Post understands.
A report later this month is expected to say the HS2 station for the East Midlands should be moved into Derbyshire.
Sources say the move is being made to try to link HS2 into existing rail lines to Nottingham and Derby.
It is believed that the proposed new site will be somewhere between Long Eaton and Breaston.
It could remove the need for an expensive tunnel underneath East Midlands Airport, which forms part of the original route proposal.
The change will not be revealed until October 27, when HS2 bosses are due to release a report into the second phase of the £42bn project.
But the move has already been labelled a disaster for the local economy.
Councillor Milan Radulovic is leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, which Toton is part of.
"This is the worst kind of penny-pinching," he said. "It will be a disaster for the East Midlands economy. This underlines my lack of confidence in central government. They want to shave some money off the line up here when you just know they won't do the same where it goes into London."
It's not clear at this stage what impact the switch might have on the route through the rest of Nottinghamshire.
While cities like Birmingham and Manchester have forged ahead with proposals for development around their proposed HS2 stations, the eastern leg of the line has been dogged by disagreement.
Nottingham City Council was happy with HS2's proposals for a station at Toton. But Derby City Council then put forward a separate proposal for the station to be sited in Derby city centre.
The proposal was criticised by Nottingham City Council leader Councillor Jon Collins as causing damaging uncertainty to the eastern leg of the project. It is believed to have been rejected by HS2.
A spokeswoman for HS2 told the Post: "A report by our chairman will be announced on October 27 when there will be an update about the second phase of HS2. That report is still in draft form so it would be pure speculation to say what it might contain."
The biggest business organisation in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire says that if a new site is proposed, politicians must get behind the proposal immediately.
George Cowcher, the chief executive of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: "If we don't get our act together then we risk not having HS2 in the East Midlands.
"We have seen other parts of the country get behind their proposals. We need to put differences aside and do the same, otherwise government will conclude the eastern leg is too difficult to deliver."
Mr Collins said he had not seen any reports containing proposals to change the HS2 station.
He said: "HS2 isn't just about connectivity, it's also about economic regeneration and I stand by Toton as an opportunity to do just that.
"If there is a decision about a new route or a new station then I would view any economic development potential around that as important, but as an addition to what we already have at Toton."
Anna Soubry, MP for Broxtowe, said she was concerned by rumours that Toton might lose its HS2 connection.
"If this turns out to be true then we will have squandered a golden opportunity for Broxtowe," she said.
"There were proposals for housing around the site, but the proposals for economic development connected to the HS2 station are not good enough. It needs a high quality business park but what has been proposed is second rate."
THE STORY of HS2 in the East Midlands casts an unflattering insight on local city politics.
When plans for a high-speed rail route into England's regions were revealed, cities like Birmingham lost no time in coming up with proposals to exploit the economic potential.
But over here, there was a spat between Nottingham and Derby about where the East Midlands station should go.
HS2 said it should be in Toton, a site with an existing rail sidings which is some seven miles outside Nottingham and 10 miles from Derby.
While Nottingham was happy with the suggestion, Derby didn't like it, council bosses launching a campaign to get the station moved into their own city centre.
Privately, business leaders despaired at the spectacle of two cities bickering while other parts of the country came up with agreed proposals to make the most of the biggest infrastructure project the UK has seen in decades.
One senior business figure told the Post: "It is a sideshow. The problem is that it makes it easier for the Government to look elsewhere."
Nottingham City Council initially stayed quiet about Derby's proposal in the belief that the case for Toton had been clearly made. But as Derby continued to push its case, city council leader Jon Collins warned publicly that its campaign risked causing damaging delays.
There were questions about Toton as a site, which didn't have direct rail links into either city but would have a tram to Nottingham.
But there were even bigger questions about Derby's proposal, which would have taken the line into one city but away from two others. Mr Collins said he understood the politics of Derby's proposal but not the economic logic.
In the end, HS2 looks to have rejected Derby's proposal outright. But it's also rejected Toton.
Right now, the reasons aren't clear, but it's thought the lack of direct links to the two cities (and no links at all to Leicester) has been a key consideration, one said to be of particular concern to Network Rail.
The precise location of a new site won't become clear until October 27, when HS2 chairman David Higgins unveils a new report into the second phase of HS2, which goes through the East Midlands.
But it's thought to be somewhere between Breaston and Long Eaton, close to the area where the Midland Main Line from the south splits in two to go to Derby and Nottingham.
Significantly, it's also closer to Leicester and to East Midlands Airport. The new route could also mean that an expensive train tunnel under the airport – part of the current route proposal – is no longer necessary.
Shadow rail minister and Nottingham MP Lilian Greenwood said : "HS2 should not be seen as just a piece of standalone infrastructure – it's about improving the whole rail network and onward rail connections are a key part of that. So if there is a change which enables better connectivity that is something which should be welcomed.
"I haven't seen proposals to change HS2. But whatever happens, it is important that Nottingham and the East Midlands does not get left behind."
George Cowcher, the chief executive of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said it was crucial that politicians across the region got behind a new route.
"If we don't get our act together then we risk not having HS2 in the East Midlands," he said. "We have seen other parts of the country get behind their proposals. We need to put differences aside and do the same, otherwise government will conclude the eastern leg is too difficult to deliver.
"We have yet to be convinced about the onward connectivity from Toton. There would be a tram to Nottingham but that is not the right solution – there needs to be rail connectivity into the wider East Midlands.
"The objective is to find the right transport solution and then get behind it."
While HS2 is expected to reveals details of proposed changes on October 27, a final decision about whether or not to allow the eastern leg of HS2's second phase to be moved will be taken by Parliament.
The history of HS2
Proposals for a £30 billion High Speed 2 rail line which would build on the high-speed link from London to Paris first emerged under the last Labour government.
In early 2010, the then transport secretary, Lord Adonis, announced plans for a link travelling through the East Midlands, with Notts councils immediately campaigning for a station in the county.
In March 2011, coalition Government transport officials considered plans for the 250mph high speed trains to take a branch line into Nottingham city centre.
But in January 2013, new transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin revealed that Toton Sidings had been chosen as the proposed site of the east Midlands HS2 station.
Derby City Council said there was clear evidence it would be better off in Derby.
It took its campaign directly to Government.
At the same time, project costs have risen, with HS2 now estimated to need £42bn of public money.
The Toton proposal has been out for consultation ever since. It remains the preferred option, but rumours have been growing for days that the lack of rail links to other parts of the region could see it moved.
The Toton debate
Jon Collins, leader, Nottingham City Council: "We have to build a consensus about the route and the station sites for the whole of the eastern leg of HS2 so that it becomes a top priority for politicians. HS2 is not just about connectivity. It is about the opportunities for growth and regeneration it brings. Toton must not miss out on that."
Lilian Greenwood, shadow rail minister: "HS2 is an historic opportunity to connect the cities of the Midlands and the North. As long as the East Midlands route is secured that is what is most important. But HS2 has to connect with the rest of the rail network."
Milan Radulovic, leader, Broxtowe Borough Council: "With HS2 at Toton we had a way of managing the growth of housing and the local economy. Without it, anything could happen in the green belt because we won't be able to defend ourselves."
George Cowcher, chief executive, Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce: "There are no existing rail services from Toton, so you would have to produce a completely new railway timetable. That would be expensive."
