MIDDLEWICH - KEY TO THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE?

'One immensely effective way in which the impact of the Northern Powerhouse could be widely realised would be the reopening of Middlewich railway station to passengers—a campaign that thousands of residents of Middlewich have supported for many years.

That would open up rail access directly from Crewe, right through Cheshire and into Manchester, and relieve pressure on the M6.

It also has the support of many surrounding constituency MPs.

I urge Ministers to look into that and to revert back to me with their considerations.'

Fiona Bruce MP, House Of Commons, 13th July 2015

With thanks to Ian Tresman, Andrew Malloy and

MIDDLEWICH RAILWAY STATION FACEBOOK PAGE

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THE MIDDLEWICH DIARY

CAMPAIGN UPDATE - JANUARY 2013

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

January 2013

At MRLC’s committee meeting on the 29^th January we discussed the progress of the petition which our local MP Fiona Bruce is putting before Parliament; the possibility of our taking advantage of the new £20 million Government funding for the opening of new railway stations in the UK, and Monday’s announcement of the route for phase two of High Speed 2 (HS2) which, in this area, will run from the West Coast Main  Line near Minshull Vernon and then veer off towards Manchester, passing very close to Middlewich and Winsford at Stanthorne and Bostock.

MRLC is in the process of passing on the last few additional signatures on our petition which Congleton MP Fiona Bruce intends to put before Parliament.

The petition calls for the introduction of a new passenger service from Manchester to Crewe via Northwich, a new station at Middlewich, and Sandbach.

Fiona hopes to be able to present the petition in the near future.

The Government recently announced the creation of a new £20 million fund for the building of new stations in the UK.

The stumbling block as far as MRLC is concerned is that schemes applying for this funding need to be, as the Government puts it, ‘shovel ready’ – i.e. ready to go ahead and with the support of local authorities, train companies and Network Rail.

We do, of course, have the support of both Cheshire Councils and of Northern Rail who will be the operators of the new service, but the problem lies with Network Rail who are asking for a large sum of money merely to look at our consultants’ report.

Cheshire East Councillor Mike Parsons has agreed to talk to Fiona Bruce about this matter and see if anything can be done to access some of this money for Middlewich.

We also talked about the rather controversial matter of the new High Speed Rail Link, phase two of which will run from Crewe to Manchester, passing very close to Middlewich and Winsford in the process.

MRLC feels that the fact that the ‘local’ station for  HS2 in this area will be Crewe does nothing but strengthen the case for the new Manchester-Middlewich-Crewe service.

There will be much talk in the years to come about developing local lines to ‘feed into’ the HS2 lines and we very much hope that the Middlewich line will be one of them.

This does not, however, indicate that we believe that the new Middlewich service will ‘follow on’ from the development of the HS2 line.

Our new service, and our new station are needed now, and will be needed whether or not the new High Speed lines are built.

LINKS: NEW STATIONS FUND (BBC)
               NEW STATIONS FUND (TRAVEL NEWS)
SEE ALSO: HS2 NORTH OF CREWE

FIONA BRUCE MP - NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO MIDDLEWICH

Photo: Fiona Bruce

Once again it has been a great privilege to serve the residents of Middlewich as your MP.

The victory against the American multinational Covanta’s plans to site a massive incinerator in Middlewich was one everyone in the town can be proud of – it really was a whole community fight.

I was pleased to challenge the plans directly with the Prime Minister in Parliament and at the Public Inquiry. Well done to all who played their part!

A big hand too to Middlewich residents campaigning in different ways for a better society – like the new RAMP – Residents Action for Middlewich Parks group – of which I am delighted to have been invited to become Patron; Middlewich Mothers’ Union campaign to protect children from the influence of pornography and the ever determined Middlewich Rail Link Campaigners who have collected 2000 signatures for their petition to Parliament which I will proudly present this year.

An important new initiative was the first Middlewich Expo, showcasing the area’s great and varied local businesses – the Expo was promoted by the Town Council, Middlewich Vision and East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise – a great example of the strengthening Partnership working between public and private sectors, social enterprises and voluntary groups in the interests of the whole community.

Middlewich life continues to go from strength to strength.

One of the highlights of the year was seeing the high standard of Design and Technology and artwork at Middlewich High School. I also very much enjoyed this year’s events and festivals such as the FAB ( formerly Folk and Boat) Festival, WWII weekend; new Artisan markets, bulb planting with the Clean Team, meeting with the Street Pastors, the Middlewich and District Annual Show and super performances by the Middlewich Youth Theatre, Middlewich Concert Orchestra, Middlewich Concert Society and the African Choir at St Michael’s – to name but a few of the such events which make Middlewich a very genuine and much loved community – not least by me.

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Fiona Bruce MP

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION

LINK TO THE ORIGINAL GUARDIAN STORY

PETITION HANDOVER SEPTEMBER 22nd 2012

The official handover of MRLC's petition calling for a passenger train service and a new station for Middlewich took place on Saturday September 22nd in the Bull Ring, Middlewich.
Middlewich's MP Fiona Bruce is seen accepting the petition from Cllr Mike Parsons.
Also in the photograph are (left to right): Cllr Paul Edwards, Cllr Sonya Edwards, Town Mayor Cllr Simon McGrory, Cllr Keith Bagnall Cllr Andrew Malloy (Knutsford) and Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr Bernice Walmsley.
The fact that Sonya and Bernice are 'in uniform' is explained by the fact that the handover took place during Middlewich's second Wartime Weekend, as can be seen from the banner in the background.
The petition will enable Fiona to raise the matter of the Middlewich line in Parliament, and MRLC would like to record its appreciation of all the hard work put in by everyone who helped obtain the signatures, and in particular to Cllr Peter Hirst.

SEE ALSO: OFFICIAL HANDOVER OF THE MRLC PETITION (ARCHIVED)

OFFICIAL HAND OVER OF THE MRLC PETITION TO FIONA BRUCE MP (ARCHIVED)

(ARCHIVED 25/09/2012)

Councillor Mike Parsons writes:


Hello all,

Just to let you know that the Petition we raised to reopen the Middlewich branch line to passenger traffic and provide a station at Middlewich is now complete. We have raised the target of 2,000 signatures (bar a few!!) and it is my pleasure to invite you all to the official handover next Saturday (22nd. Sep.), at 10.30 am. in the Bull Ring.

Fiona Bruce MP has kindly offered to come along and formally receive the Petition in front of the press and I would like to see as many of the local traders and residents who have been involved with this present for the photograph. If you could, therefore, please pass this message on to anyone you know who  has helped to promote the campaign (it is impossible for me to know who they all are), I would be most grateful, as I would hate anyone to be left out.

So come along and bring as many with you as you can.  We need a real good show of unity and strength for Fiona to take to Westminster and me to take to the meetings I have managed to get organised with Cheshire East Officers. We've won the fight to beat off the Incinerator; now let's go out and win the fight for our station!

See you Saturday.

Mike   

SEE ALSO: PETITION HANDOVER 22nd SEPTEMBER (PHOTO)

READERS URGED TO SIGN RAIL PETITION - KNUTSFORD GUARDIAN REPORT

The Knutsford Guardian recently carried a report explaining why Knutsford Town Councillor Andrew Malloy was urging residents of Knutsford to sign MRLC's petition calling for the re-opening of a station in Middlewich, and the introduction of a passenger service on the Sandbach-Middlewich-Northwich line:

'A KNUTSFORD councillor is backing a neighbouring town’s campaign to reopen a railway line that has been closed to passengers for more than half a century.

Clr Andrew Malloy believes the plans to upgrade the Northwich to Sandbach line would improve rail services in Knutsford.

The Thorneyholme Drive resident is encouraging Guardian readers to sign a petition which will be presented to Parliament by Fiona Bruce MP in the autumn....'

(excerpt reproduced with permission)

To read the rest of the report, please follow this link:

READERS URGED TO SIGN RAIL PETITION.

Councillor Malloy has, of course, correctly identified another advantage of re-opening the Middlewich line to passenger trains - the opportunity for passengers living in Knutsford and other stations on the Mid-Cheshire line East of Northwich to travel direct to Crewe (and thus to destinations all over the country) without first having to journey into Stockport or Manchester and change trains (their only other even vaguely realistic current option being a lengthy journey to Chester and a change of train there for Crewe).

This photograph was taken at the July meeting of the MRLC committee and shows:

(left to right) Fiona Bruce MP, Harry Boardman, Stephen Dent, Wayne Jones, Cllr Mike Parsons and

Cllr Peter Hirst with the petition which will help Fiona raise the matter of the Middlewich line in Parliament.

SEE ALSO: KNUTSFORD TOWN COUNCIL ENDORSES RAIL LINK PLAN

PETE WATERMAN BECOMES CAMPAIGN PATRON - JULY 2011

Photo supplied by The Middlewich Guardian

PETE WATERMAN BECOMES PATRON OF THE MIDDLEWICH RAIL LINK CAMPAIGN
(First published in the Middlewich Guardian 25th July 2011. Reproduced with permission)

by Katie Durose

CELEBRITY record producer and rail enthusiat Pete Waterman has become the new patron of a campaign to re-open Middlewich railway station.

MP Fiona Bruce has been working closely with the Middlewich Rail Link Campain (MRLC) since Cheshire East Council announced in October 2010 that it was 'not a priority' for funding.

Pete was invited to a debate in the House of Commons to discuss how he could help the project.

Vernon Perkins*, secretary of the MRLC, said, 'we are lucky to have living on our doorstep the most recognisable media personality on the subject of trains.

'Then there is the wealth of industry knowledge that Pete possesses.

'We know he owns locomotives, but also built up the Crewe-based maintenance company, LNWR.

'I am sure that Pete can help us talk to the right people - the likes of  Network Rail, the Department for Transport and Northern Rail.'

Middlewich lost its passenger train service in 1960, but the campaign group are hoping to reopen the service
between Sandbach and Northwich via Middlewich.

The costs of reopening the line would be around £2m, but according to a feasibility study released in July 2009, the benefit would be five times greater than the price.

MP Fiona Bruce says, 'Pete Waterman is the ideal patron for the campaign - not only for his huge enthusiasm and knowhow of trains, but aslso as the appointed chairman of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, which is determined to put this region firmly on the map in terms of investment and opportunities.'

Talking to Fiona at the House of Commons, Pete said, 'I am very pleased to become the campaign's patron and am looking at how I can provide support'.

* Since this article was first published, Vernon Perkins has left the campaign.