Not Just Our Area

[whole diary]

[John R]

Spare a thought for the good citizens of Congleton, between Macclesfield and Stoke. Currently enjoying a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service every two hours, the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) has decreed that from December these will be axed, leaving potentially only 4 Northern train services.

Congleton? Where? How big? I hear you ask. Well it's got a population of 23,000 and in the last published year the station stats increased 30% from 98,000 to 130,000.

So it's not just Melksham......   

[Mookiemoo]

Spare a thought for the good citizens of Congleton, between Macclesfield and Stoke. Currently enjoying a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service every two hours, the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) has decreed that from December these will be axed, leaving potentially only 4 Northern train services.

Congleton? Where? How big? I hear you ask. Well it's got a population of 23,000 and in the last published year the station stats increased 30% from 98,000 to 130,000.

So it's not just Melksham......   

The question though is not how big is congleton but what is the employment opportunity in stoke and macclesfield?

[Lee]

Spare a thought for the good citizens of Congleton, between Macclesfield and Stoke. Currently enjoying a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service every two hours, the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) has decreed that from December these will be axed, leaving potentially only 4 Northern train services.

Congleton? Where? How big? I hear you ask. Well it's got a population of 23,000 and in the last published year the station stats increased 30% from 98,000 to 130,000.

So it's not just Melksham......   

According to Wikipedia, all is not lost (link below) :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congleton_railway_station

It has been announced by the transport secretary that in December 2008 when a new and revamped timetable is launched once the West Coast Main Line work has been completed, that more train services will be introduced to serve Congleton.

Northern will increase the number of services which call at Congleton with a new hourly service throughout the day and increased services during morning and evening peak.

While at the same time, more cross-country services to Manchester, Birmingham and beyond will stop during morning and evening peak. However the current two hourly Cross-country services stop during the day will be removed.

However, there is opposition to the removal of Cross Country services (example link below.)
http://scaresbrooks.blogspot.com/2007/11/disintegrated-train-travel-for.html

The government were pretty much unmoved by this petition to the PM (link below.)
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14702.asp

A good background document can be found in the link below. The Northern Rail hourly service from December 2008, calling all stations Manchester Piccadilly^Macclesfield, then Congleton, Kidsgrove and Stoke is mentioned on page 9.
http://www.gmpta.gov.uk/uploads/agendas/2/92/Reports/Item%2006.%20Dec%202008%20Rail%20Timetable.pdf

[John R]

Thank you Lee. Obviously not quite as bad as some people are painting in the area (it's "mother in law land", so maybe I should be encouraging all transport links to the town to be severed  ).

And am I the only one in the Coffee Shop to be impressed at your ability to research any topic that gets thrown at you and come up with all the gen in such a short space of time.

[Phil]

No, I'm impressed as well.

[Lee]

Very kind of you both, thanks 

Congleton is a fascinating example of the changing nature of rail service provision, and the issues that this throws up for those affected. As such, it is of great interest to me research-wise.