Consultation Response from the North Staffs Rail Promotion Group

Transcription

1 West Coast Route Utilisation Strategy Consultation Response from the North Staffs Rail Promotion Group 1. Stoke-on-Trent Stoke station is the railhead for the North Staffordshire conurbation which represents a population of approaching half a million not just the City of Stoke-on-Trent but also the Borough of Newcastle under Lyme and centres such as Leek in the adjacent Staffordshire Moorlands. The extent of the Stoke station catchment area is often not recognised. Stoke is now generally well served by rail with no less than 5 TOCs making call at the station (Virgin, Cross Country, Northern, London Midland and East Midlands Trains). We have identified two principle weaknesses of the current timetable 1a) Late night services from London and other major cities Timings of the last direct service to Stoke compared with other towns and cities in the Midlands From London to: Depart London Arrival time Stoke-on-Trent Leicester Loughborough Derby Nottingham Stafford Wolverhampton Manchester Lichfield Norwich York Leeds Bristol Cardiff Although the Stoke conurbation is larger than Derby, Loughborough and Stafford, it has an earlier last train from London Even Chesterfield (population 98,800) [less than 1/5 the size of the North Staffs conurbation] has a London departure Throughout the day xx.00 Manchester departures from London Euston call at Stoke with the exception of the departures which is routed via Crewe. If this train went via Stoke it would improve the late night service

2 Other last trains Likewise, Stoke is served poorly from Manchester From Manchester to: Depart Manchester Arrival time Stoke-on-Trent Crewe Chester Liverpool Late connections cannot be made from St Pancras/Eurostar, nor from the East or NorthEast because of the last service from Derby From Derby to: Depart Derby Arrival time Stoke There is the same problem for Stoke from Wales and the North-West because of the early last service from Crewe From Crewe to: Depart Crewe Arrival time Stoke And similarly for trains from Birmingham From Birmingham to Depart Birmingham Arrival time Stoke-on-Trent First trains Early connections to Wales and the north, east & south are not possible. An earlier train is required to provide these connections, and also for Crewe workers Depart Stoke Arrival time From Stoke-on-Trent Crewe 7.26 first train 7.48!! East Midlands first train leaves 7.33 Derby Manchester Manchester Airport ! Birmingham International East Midlands Parkway for airport !

3 1b) Direct service to airports Manchester Airport is only 35 miles from Stoke and yet the direct rail service (the airport extension of the Derby to Crewe service) was withdrawn in We note that there has been a priority of establishing airport rail links and there is now no direct link to Manchester Airport from Stoke or Stafford. Direct rail access to Manchester Airport from the south is not good and Birmingham International is reached more easily from Staffordshire. One way of linking Manchester Airport to north Staffordshire would be to extend the Manchester Piccadilly/Airport to Crewe service to run via Kidsgrove to Stoke. 2. Connections at Crewe The weakness identified is that it is now harder to make worthwhile connections at Crewe. Since the December 2008 timetable, there is now less connectivity at Crewe. This matters in North Staffordshire because it is the principle route to the North and Scotland. Even if the numbers of people starting a journey at Crewe are not exceptional, a much greater number of people will be using Crewe as an interchange. Some towns from which connections to Scotland & the North of England require a change at Crewe Chester Runcorn (better than via Liverpool) Holyhead and Ireland Shrewsbury Stoke-on-Trent Wrexham Stoke-on-Trent Ludlow Leominster Hereford Since the introduction of the December 2008 timetable there has been only one train / hour from Crewe to Scotland the Birmingham to Glasgow/Edinburgh service running through Crewe and Warrington. The box lists some principal stations from which journeys to Scotland and the North of England require a change at Crewe. There are also no direct services to Scotland from Stoke or Stafford. Half of Virgin s northbound trains make Warrington their first stop, Warrington has 2 trains an hour to the north, Crewe now has only one. Connections to Preston, Lancaster or Glasgow are now harder to make from North Staffs, Cheshire and Shropshire. Travelling from Shrewsbury and the Borders / Mid Wales, it is going to be harder to make connections at Crewe for the North and journey times are going to be extended.

4 3. Stone travel to Birmingham and Manchester A better service from Stone to Birmingham is needed. It is still not possible to commute to Birmingham. Either a direct service or better connections into the evening are necessary. Stone is an expanding commuter town with a large amount of new housing and a population of about 15 thousand. There are a significant number of people who would use the train service to travel to work or for leisure. The most useful destination would be Birmingham. The last consultation on the rail service to be restored at Stone was in June 2006 the West Midlands Franchise Renewal. Here was proposed: The introduction of a new hourly Birmingham Manchester semifast service operated by Desiro trains. This is proposed to call at Wolverhampton, Penkridge (peak hours only), Stafford, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent..., However this service was never included in the final franchise, and there is still no direct service to Birmingham. Instead, Stone was included in the Trent Valley service running from Euston to Crewe. On the current timetable, commuting to Birmingham is virtually impossible because the last connection to Stone from Stafford is 6.20pm, requiring the 5.36 out of New Street to run on time to make the connection at Stafford. There is space for people to park their car at Stone Station, but if they miss the last connection back they need to be given a taxi ride back to Stone to pick up their cars. It has also proved difficult to keep to time northbound on the Trent Valley service. Worse, late-running trains are at times sent direct from Stafford to Crewe, so missing out Stone, Stoke and Alsager. Passengers waiting at Stone are considerably inconvenienced as all they can do is wait for a later train. This is an unsatisfactory situation, and accurate information is not always available. The last useful train from Manchester to Stone is 6.15pm, with 6mins for a connection at Stoke. Stone lacked a train service for several years, and even back to the mid nineties had a rather poor service that ran at irregular intervals between Stoke and Stafford. So the new service, with London Midland providing an hourly service Monday to Saturday, and even a 2 hourly service on Sundays, is a massive improvement on what we have had in Stone for over 15 years. The service is developing consistent levels of use, even though it still lacks a return train from Birmingham in the evening!

5 We need a later connection back to Stone to encourage greater commuter use of the service, between Stone and Birmingham. This could be done by diverting the last Trent Valley train, which currently goes from Rugeley TV to Crewe without calling at Stafford or Stone. Originally the draft franchise offered us the promise of a semi-fast service between Birmingham and Manchester. This would be a preferred option if connections to the Trent Valley service can be made at Stafford, and assuming this can run later into the evening. One way to provide such a service would be to extend the Northern service from Manchester to Stoke further south through Stafford./Wolverhampton/Birmingham. 4. Barlaston and Wedgwood These two stations currently have a bus replacement (X1) service but no trains stop at either station. We believe there are no plans to close either station. As from September 2009, the X1 service has been changed so it no longer goes through to Stafford Station. It has never stopped at Stone Station because this replacement bus stops at Granville Square, a 10 minute walk from the station. Barlaston is therefore only directly connected to the Rail Network at Stoke to the north. Therefore, there should be a possibility of restoring trains to both stations. There would be a better chance of doing this with a semi-fast service on the Manchester to Birmingham line, than by giving the Trent Valley service another 2 stops! This option could then allow stops at Longport as well, which currently requires a change of train for a trip to Manchester. 5. Station improvements Stone The Station Approach Road at Stone is now well used for parking by train users. The responsibility for its upkeep lies with Network Rail, and we would suggest that improvements to the road up to the station would increase train users confidence in using this as a safe area for parking. Kidsgrove Kidsgrove station has problems of access with 3 out of 4 platforms reached by way of a footbridge.

6 Kidsgrove has four platforms, only one of which can be accessed without stairs. There is an overbridge (which badly needs painting) providing access to platforms 2, 3 and 4. The station is very well used these days, with at least 40 cars per day in the car park, and with many other passengers arriving on foot. We do not know how many disabled potential passengers are deterred from using Kidsgrove station by the access problem, but the stairs are equally a difficulty for anyone with luggage, a pushchair or a bicycle. Anyone unable to use the stairs will have to take the hourly Northern service from platform 1 to Stoke, and change there for Manchester, Derby or Crewe, all destinations which are directly available from Kidsgrove for able-bodied passengers. There is no possibility of providing an alternative road access to platforms 2, 3 or 4. We doubt if lifts would be considered economically viable at Kidsgrove, so the solution would be a ramped bridge. 6. Customer service for passengers North Staffs Rail Promotion Group feel that the balance has been lost between achieving the fastest possible timings between London and major destinations such as Manchester and the North, and giving a first-rate service to the not inconsiderable number of passengers who wish to make journeys between intermediate stations or who are not travelling to or from London. In this area, we now have a reduced service between Crewe and the North Midlands up to Scotland. The facilities at some intermediate stations are poor. Stafford station is a particularly dismal place to change trains and needs some improvement. The Trent Valley Service, though very welcome, has had problems of reliability which need to be dealt with, as many of the stations on this route have few facilities for passengers, and limited information is available when trains run late.