MIDDLEWICH
RAIL LINK CAMPAIGN
CAMPAIGN
UPDATE
The
latest meeting of the Middlewich Rail Link Campaign took place on
Tuesday 25th March at the Boar's Head in Middlewich.
Discussion
largely centered on Cheshire East Council's Local Plan Strategy. The
importance of representations on this from the Campaign and also
from members of the public was stressed.
MRLC
will be making representations in writing on this matter to Cheshire
East before the deadline of 25th April
Chapter
14 of the document concerns Sustainable Transport and talks about
rail infrastructure schemes in Cheshire East.
Although
the Middlewich Rail Link scheme is included in this section and the
document talks about 'supporting the aspiration for re-opening the
Sandbach to Northwich railway line...(and)...opening a station at
Middlewich', we feel that the wording is far too vague.
Our
campaign has been running for over twenty years, and the case for
re-opening has been more than proved. We feel that the wording should
be changed to reflect this and should read:
'Taking
action to bring about the re-opening of the Sandbach to Northwich
railway line to passengers, including the opening of a station in
Middlewich, by direct talks with Network Rail and all other
interested parties.'
Another
section of the Local Plan Strategy document covers STRATEGIC LOCATION
SL9 which includes the Brooks Lane area and the station site.
In
the section headed
Site
Specific Principles of Development
we
are requesting that the document should include the following
wording:
'Safeguarding
the site for the new railway station in Middlewich, fully taking into
account the exact siting of the platform and associated access. Car
parking for the station should also be taken into account and
provision made for it.'
and
the map accompanying this section should also be amended to show the
railway station, its exact location and dimensions
In
order to facilitate these changes to the local plan document, the
Council can make reference to the Railway Consultancy report
(available via the MRLC website) and also liaise with Network Rail.
In
general, MRLC feels that the time for 'ifs, buts and maybes' has long
since passed and that we should proceed on the assumption that the
re-opening will go ahead, however long it may take.
Cllr
Mike Parsons has been doing sterling work in keeping the issue alive
with the relevant people at Cheshire East, pointing out the immense
benefits this scheme would provide, right across Cheshire and the
opportunities for funding which are coming along at the moment.
We
are still waiting for results from the meeting last November in which
representatives from Cheshire East and Network Rail were able to
meet face to face to discuss the re-opening of this line.
We
also talked about the new 'Cheshire Fresh' development in Holmes
Chapel Road which has just been granted planning permission, and felt
that this, once again, strengthens the case for the new station.
Discussion
of the diverted Virgin trains which ran through Middlewich on the
16th March also took place. We have some great photos of
these trains from Glen Leigh and David Hawkes, and these will appear
in due course on this website.
If
you'd like to make your own representations on Cheshire East's Local
Plan Strategy document, here is the link:
It
is also possible to make submissions in writing by obtaining forms
from the local library and other Cheshire East offices. Details are
on the Cheshire East website.
Submissions
need to be in for 5pm on Friday 25th April.
If
you have any questions, don't hesitate to email us on
and
we'll do our best to answer them
Dave
Roberts
MRLC
27th
March 2014
I don't know whether there has been any consideration of rolling stock, but it can be expensive. A recent edition of Great British Railway Journeys, Series 4, episode 4, "Dudley to Bridgnorth (via Stourbridge)", featured the Stourbridge Town Branch Line that uses the Parry People Mover, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parry_People_Movers
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this is a lot cheaper than regular rolling stock, and requires a smaller platform (less costs).
With Sandbach to Northwich at 11miles (18km), at a typical speed of 50km/hr, the round trip would take 45mins for a single unit, 25 mins each way for a pair of vehicles.
CheshireGuy, we're campaigning for a service to exist at all, not necessarily the rolling stock. It would be up to the DfT and the train operating company (likely Northern Rail) who would decide on that. The Parry has been discussed in meetings and I went to Stourbridge to experience it. It's a very bumpy, very slow and overall unpleasant experience, and that's for the 2 minute journey between the Stourbridge stations. A half hour journey on one would not be ideal, unless they build one more suited to longer journeys. Ideally though, services would work through and continue from Northwich on the Mid-Cheshire Line to Manchester and/or Stockport, which wouldn't suit a Parry at all. Alternatively, one of the proposals was for peak-only services, again running through to Manchester. These would use the rolling stock for whatever service is extended through Middlewich and would need platforms to suit (so for Northern this would be primarily 142s and 150s).
DeleteOn a personal note, while having a station at Middlewich makes sense, even opening the route up for services to run from Crewe to Northwich and Knutsford would be beneficial as I work in Knutsford and currently drive, but it would be pretty daft for the route to open *without* a station at Middlewich.
At the end of the day, actually creating the station and obtaining rolling stock would be out of our hands, we just want the service to exist in the first place.
I have submitted a response on-line to the consultation document mentioned and received an acknowledgement as follows:
ReplyDelete"Your comment will be considered as soon as possible. You will be notified when
your comment has been confirmed as processed (valid) or when it has been classed
as inadmissible.