HS2 supporters and opponents believe the eastern leg could still terminate near East Midlands Airport despite spiralling costs and a Whitehall leak suggesting the whole eastern section will be axed.
Work is underway on the first part of the high speed railway 鈥 from London to Birmingham 鈥 but there are fresh concerns over the section joining Birmingham to Toton in Notts, and on to Sheffield, then Leeds.
One Whitehall insider told the Daily Mirror: 鈥淭hey have run out of cash. There鈥檚 no way we鈥檙e going to see this built in our lifetimes.鈥
The Government is reviewing the eastern leg, while a National Infrastructure Commission report at the end of last year suggested finishing the line at East Midlands Parkway 鈥 a few miles from the airport on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire border.
One supporter of HS2, who works in the industry, told BusinessLIve cancelling the eastern route would be 鈥渃atastrophic鈥 as it could form the 鈥渂ackbone鈥 of more localised infrastructure improvements.
But North West Leicestershire MP and long-time HS2 opponent Andrew Bridgen said there was no value in an eastern leg, with latest estimates suggesting the whole HS2 programme could end up costing more than 拢150 billion. The original budget was 拢32.7 billion.
He said the eastern leg would cut through his constituency, but would provide no local station and no local benefit.
He said an announcement could be made in September 鈥渁t the earliest鈥 but believed the leaked Whitehall report was 鈥渃redible鈥 鈥 cutting the eastern leg, he said, could save 拢40 billion.
The Tory MP said: 鈥淭he eastern leg has been under threat for a long time and I鈥檝e always said there will be no money left for it.
鈥淚f it is cancelled, and I hope it is, we need it fully cancelled, not just mothballed, because that would just leave us with the blight hanging over us.
鈥淚t has already held up hundreds of jobs in my constituency, and we need that blight lifting so that the land can be released for development, otherwise it鈥檚 the worst of both worlds.
鈥淭oton was always a site agreed by committee between Nottingham and Derby 鈥 but East Midlands Parkway would made some sense because its equidistant between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and is close to the M1, airport and on the Midlands Mainline.
鈥淚 think the leaks from Whitehall are credible 鈥 there has been a delay in the final decision because they don鈥檛 know what to cut, and the fact it is taking longer for a decision to be made suggests to me a lot more will be cut.鈥
Mr Bridgen said rather than supporting the Government鈥檚 鈥淟evelling Up鈥 agenda, upgrading links to the capital via HS2 would drain money and talent from the regions.
He said: 鈥淎bout 90 per cent of my constituents don鈥檛 want it. It鈥檚 going to benefit a very few people who travel to London.
鈥淎nd if it was there to level up the country they would have started it in the north. Instead the faster you can get to London, the more money it will end up sucking out of the Midlands.
鈥淚t had a very shaky business case to start with and post-Covid it has none.鈥
One industry insider, in an organisation that has been backing the eastern leg, said it was critical some of the route to go through.
Even building it as far as East Midlands Parkway, they said, would provide the impetus for investment in local links making it easier to travel between cities such as Leicester, Nottingham and Coventry.
They said: 鈥淭he way it鈥檚 been reported suggests the whole eastern section is going to get scrapped, but I think there鈥檚 pretty much zero per cent of that happening.
鈥淚f the East Midlands doesn鈥檛 get HS2 it will be catastrophically terrible.鈥
East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said he was getting used to anonymous Whitehall civil servants sending out signals to diminish the chances of the eastern section happening.
He said: 鈥淲ith the IRP [the Government鈥檚 Integrated Rail Plan] being kicked down the road continuously and not expected until the autumn, it has left a void for constant speculation that is causing huge uncertainty at a time when we need to know the direction ahead for future regional economic planning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time for the Government to stop playing games with the future of our region, and those other areas that would stand to benefit significantly from HS2 East.
鈥淲hile many of our perceptions have been adjusted during the pandemic, the huge economic benefits that HS2 can bring as part of the much-hyped levelling up agenda haven鈥檛 changed.
鈥淢uch of the understanding around HS2 appears to be hopelessly flawed.
鈥淚t is much more than just a new railway, bringing growth in the form of business investment, house building, place regeneration, high-skilled job creation, innovation, green technologies and more to areas that have faced chronic underinvestment over a number of years.
鈥淚ndeed, we are already seeing these plans start to come to fruition across Birmingham, where the certainty of the first phase of HS2 has already spurred private sector investment and development.
鈥淲ithout the development of HS2 as promised, these plans will be critically undermined, and any delivery that does happen will certainly not be of the magnitude aspired to.鈥
The Department for Transport said 鈥渘o decisions鈥 had been finalised on the delivery of the route.
A spokesman said: 鈥淭he Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 phase 2b and other transformational projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers across the North and Midlands need and deserve.鈥
