Cheadle station a step closer with Towns Fund money

by Lib Dem team on 8 January, 2020

Cheadle has moved a step closer to getting a station following a meeting of the Cheadle Village Partnership on Tuesday.

The council has agreed with the partnership that a new station for Cheadle will be our main ask from the Towns Fund. Cllr Tom Morrison has agreed to sit on the partnership board that will help to steer the bid, and the proposals have all-party support.

Cheadle was selected before the election as one of a hundred towns across the country to receive funding. Most of the locations chosen were in marginal Conservative seats and the funding on offer is up to £25 million – enough to pay for a station and associated improvements.

The station is most likely to be on the old coal yard – land off Manchester Road currently leased by the Alexandra Hospital for parking. It would sit on the line to Stockport and Chester.

The partnership board will be formed and meet before the end of January, with a bid likely to be submitted later this year.

“In ten years of campaigning for rail for Cheadle, the Lib Dem aim has always been to make sure we had a project ready to go if the opportunity arose. This is the best opportunity we have had and I would like to thank everyone who has campaigned for a rail service for Cheadle over the years.” said Cllr Keith Holloway.

“There will be many challenges and a lot of hard work before we have the station Cheadle so desperately needs, but this is a big step forward.” Keith added.

   26 Comments

26 Responses

  1. Alan says:

    Why isn’t the station in the old Travis Perkins site as was promised?

  2. Alf says:

    The possibility of a Cheadle station is good news; even if it doesn’t go directly to Manchester where I suggest most would want to travel.

    The loss of the 130 is yet another reduction in access and a continued undermining of our area’s economic and social wellbeing. We have an immediate problem that the bus companies certainly won’t want to address. I live off Schools Hill and within a 25 to 45 minute walk of 5 train or tram stops. I could use these but buses don’t run there, are too intermittent or even available, and there is no through ticketing. If existing publicly subsidised buses don’t do it then let’s have TfGM do something rather than wringing its hands impotently and doing nothing.

  3. Dilesh says:

    Yes we were promised by the Liberal Democrats that this station will be on the former Travis Perkins site, central to the village and where we were told that the site had been earmarked for a train/tram station as part of the agreement with the developers prior to the care home facility being constructed. Why has this now changed and why were the good people of Cheadle misled?

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Hi Dilesh – we said that the former Travis Perkins site would have space for a tram/train stop as you say. It was always one of the two main options, never the only option. Train stations take up more space than a tram/train halt (think of any train station you know and compare it to one of the tram stops) so a train station will need to go onto the car park by the Alex. As ever, we continue to work for a rail service to Cheadle.

  4. Sue says:

    Where will this train line go to? If only between Stockport and Chester, is it not rather pointless? Cheadle is extremely poorly served by public transport but, without a direct route to Manchester, investing in this could well be a waste of money.

  5. Bruce says:

    Why is Tom Morrison involved with Cheadle and Gatley?

    The Cheadle constituency did not want him as their MP.

    I thought he was a councillor elsewhere?

    And what is Parliamentary Spokesman a euphemism for?

  6. Alf says:

    Both tracks through Cheadle run east-west. To go to Manchester would be via altrincham or stockport thereby lengthening travel time.

    Another thing about existing bus services is the lack of any integration with train or tram times.

    • adam burns says:

      Alf, the existing train runs from Manchester to Chester every hour. It stops at Stockport then Navigation Road then Altrincham – which is a bit ridiculous seeing as they are about 2 minutes apart.
      It unfortunately sails at high speed over Cheadle, so a station would be THE single most important thing to happen to this area in decades. I just have no idea why these things take so long to be implemented. Surely once a decision has been made and the funding is available, work starts, does it not?

  7. JB says:

    Common sense dictates that trains from Chester stopping at a reopened Cheadle station would run to Stockport and Manchester providing the quickest journey times to and from Manchester.

    May we please have regular (monthly) updates on the progress of this long overdue project.

  8. Barbara says:

    A frequent (from early morning to late night) circular bus service that connected Cheadle to the tram station at Parr’s Wood (the East Didsbury stop) would be my preferred transport investment. I feel it would be well used for commuters and for access to Manchester theatres etc.

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Hi Barbara – absolutely. We have asked for this sort of bus service as a short-term improvement.

      • Barbara says:

        Iain, You respond positively to my circular bus request but do not say why it is not being actively and aggressively pursued? It could go Manchester Road to Councillor Lane then Demmings Road, Queens Road, Orrishmere Road, Cheadle Road back via the High Street to Manchester Road. Not just commuters but students too. A very popular route, I would suggest, with minimal infrastructure costs?

        • Iain Roberts says:

          Hi Barbara, the circular bus is being actively pursued. Among the approaches we’ve tried include:
          – we approached Bullocks and Stagecoach directly putting the case and asking them to consider putting on a bus
          – we approached local big employers including the Alex and AA to see if they would consider part-funding a bus. We had an initial positive response, but not after that
          – we’ve approached the Cheadle Royal Business Park to see if the shuttle bus that briefly ran up there from Cheadle could be restarted and go via East Didsbury
          – we’ve asked TfGM and the Mayor to use any influence they can bring.

          So far none of those have been successful – they’ve all relied on other people agreed to fund things, and they have not done so. This is the latest in our long line of attempts: seeing if we can get the money from this Towns Fund to kick-start a shuttle bus service and show that it can work.

        • jenb says:

          I have suggested something similar to this (Cheadle shuttle) in the Manchester bus consolation (www.gmconsult.org), closed last week. Improvements to buses are being proposed, with a better franchising scheme that is integrated with trains etc, and bus services from different companies and areas.

  9. Jennifer says:

    I do agree with Barbara. We are always being encouraged to use public transport, but it is impossible to get to Cheadle from Parrswood after about 6.30 pm. This means you have to use a car to get to Parrswood to use public transport.

  10. Thomas says:

    Iain,

    It has been just been over five weeks since we last heard an update on the Cheadle Town rail project – has there been any further progress since your original post?

    My daily commute involves a twenty minute walk from Cheadle Village (New Hey Road) to Gatley train station in order to get to Oxford Road and I’m regularly joined by many others doing the same not to mention the number of cars having to be on the road to get over to Gatley for the same purpose creating an increased bottleneck at the main junction which starts from 7.15am

    Clearly a station on the already existing line would reduce the congestion and be a quick win for all parties concerned.

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Hi Thomas. The Government requirement was for a Board to be set up and meet before the end of January, which has happened. The Board includes local community, political and business representatives. There’s a lot of work to do before anything concrete can happen: the aim is to have a station up and running in the next six years. That is a very big ask when you look at how long it normally takes to do these things, and we’ll continue to publish updates when there’s anything substantive to report.

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