Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the study of the capacity at Crewe Station; and whether that study has made an assessment of the potential future requirements of re-opening the line from (a) Northwich via Gadbrook Business Park, (b) Middlewich and (c) Sandbach to Crewe.
Crewe is already a hub on the existing rail network and more seats will be provided when the new Avanti trains arrive in 2022. The Government has also confirmed its support for the ‘Crewe Hub’ vision, with up to 5-7 HS2 trains per hour stopping. We continue to work with Network Rail, HS2 and local partners towards realising this vision.
We recognise that there a number of proposals to increase services to Crewe. Officials continue to liaise with the Cheshire and Warrington LEP on their Strategic Outline Business Case for Mid Cheshire proposal whilst Network Rail is studying the potential interventions required to accommodate additional services.