Borough's Tory MP urges Government rethink on rejected Doncaster Sheffield Airport rail link and station

Tory MP Nick Fletcher has urged his Government to think again after Ministers rejected a plan to construct a rail link and station at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
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Don Valley MP 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.”

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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.

Conservative Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley. Picture: Marie CaleyConservative Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley. Picture: Marie Caley
Conservative Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley. Picture: Marie Caley

Aviation minister, Paul Maynard, visited airport bosses back 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 £200million, take just five years to deliver and has ‘no impact on existing homes and businesses’.

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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.

“I am urging the Department for Transport to reassess its decision, especially as 1.4 million passengers used Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2019 alone. It is an increasingly important transport hub, and I believe that it would be an opportunity missed not to expand the rail link,” Mr Fletcher said.

“I want people in Doncaster to know that I will be arranging meetings with Ministers and other stakeholders to continue to push for the Gateway East project.

“While undoubtedly, the current economic situation will have an adverse effect on decision making, the project would hugely help Doncaster and the rest of the Sheffield City Region as we recover from the pandemic.”

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