The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that Congleton has been without a Sunday train service for over a year; further that this lack of Sunday trains makes weekend trips from our local station of Congleton all but impossible; further that for a town the size of Congleton, which is rapidly expanding, the lack of a full 7 day per week timetable is not an acceptable level of service; and that this has continued for far too long; and notes that CrossCountry trains could make an additional stop at Congleton throughout the day on Sundays, causing the passengers on those trains little inconvenience while at the same time increasing passenger numbers on our train network.
The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge the Department for Transport and the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, to require a Sunday train service for Congleton of at least six trains each way between Stoke and Manchester, facilitated by a more equitable share of the Northern train crew resource and a requirement, at least in the interim, for certain CrossCountry trains to make an additional stop at Congleton throughout the day on Sundays, and to confirm and commit to a date when a sufficiently robust 7 day timetable will resume for Congleton.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sarah Russell, Official Report, 3 December 2025; Vol. 776, c. 1134.]
[P003141]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Keir Mather):
I know the current lack of direct Sunday services to Manchester is frustrating for Congleton passengers. We are working as hard as we can to restore Northern to the reliable seven-day service that passengers and business across the north expect and deserve.
Sundays are outside the contracted working week for 95% of Northern’s conductors in the region, meaning Northern relies on volunteers to run services. Northern management has been working hard with its staff and unions to develop proposals to resolve these issues, and these discussions have been constructive. My Department has given Northern a mandate to enter formal negotiations with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and these are making progress. I am hopeful the two sides will continue to work together to deliver a good outcome for Northern’s staff and its passengers as soon as possible.
In order to provide more certainty for passengers, we agreed that in January 2025, Northern could introduce a temporary reduced timetable on Sundays in the north-west, based on the services it had confidence it was able to run following conversations with staff. So far in 2025 this has led to a significant reduction in cancellations. In November, Northern’s overall cancellation rate was under 3%, down from more than 11% in November 2024.
But routes staffed from some depots continue to receive very limited or, like Congleton, no direct Sunday services. Train crews are contracted to work from their depots, so using crews from other depots to staff Congleton services would not be possible. Northern is running replacement bus services to Macclesfield, where passengers can connect with express services to Manchester. This means the journey takes around one hour, compared to around 45 minutes on a direct Northern service.
CrossCountry has not called at Congleton since 2020. Of the 33 CrossCountry trains that passed through Congleton last Sunday, 12 were formed of double sets so were too long to call at the station, while others would be constrained by their timetables from making the stop.