Reopening of Barlaston Railway Station (Stoke-on-Trent)
The petition of residents of the constituency of Stone in Staffordshire,
Declares that the residents of Barlaston request the reopening of Barlaston railwav station; further that the station was taken out of service and closed to trains as a consequence of the West Coast Main Line Upgrade in 2003; further that at present anyone wishing to travel by train from Barlaston must first take either one or two buses to Stoke-on-Trent or Stafford and/or undertake journeys on foot to rail replacement bus stops in Stone, which is a significant inconvenience and means access to the rail network is considerably difficult; further that the success of the reopening of Stone railway station in 2008 has demonstrated the potential for local stations to thrive; further that since Stone railway station reopened, Stone has seen a remarkable growth in its annual passenger footfall figures which have more than doubled from 48,000 in 2009-10 to 100,000 in 2013-14; and further that the London Euston–Crewe train already runs through Barlaston station without stopping.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Department for Transport to reopen Barlaston railway station.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sir William Cash, Official Report, 8 December 2015; Vol. 603, c. 964.]
[P001657]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry):
The Department is very much aware of the concerns of the people of the constituency of Stone, and their elected representatives, regarding the reopening of Barlaston station.
As your residents may be aware, we are currently running a public consultation regarding the future West Midlands franchise, which will inform our specification for train services for the franchise. We would encourage residents to respond to the consultation which runs until 22 March 2016. Residents can respond by filling out the online survey1 or submit a written response2. Alternatively, residents can attend one of the consultation events3 held by the Department and West Midlands Rail for a chance to hear first-hand about plans for the new franchise and an opportunity to ask questions.
We are aware of the concerns regarding services at Barlaston station, and are planning to hold a separate consultation on options for the services and stations in this area later this year.
We have listened to the people of the constituency of Stone, and I look forward to receiving your responses to both public consultations.
1 http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/west-midlands-franchise/
2 Written responses can be sent to westmidsconsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk.
3 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/488209/Stakeholder_events_for_the_ West_Midlands_franchise_consultation.pdf.