The Newsletter of the Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association, the Voice for Users of the Manchester-Stockport-Altrincham-Knutsford-Northwich-Chester and Crewe-Hartford-Liverpool Lines.
We are pleased to inform members that Chris Kimberley, the Commercial Director of Northern Rail, is to speak at a MCRUA public meeeting in the Tatton Room at the Knutsford Civic Centre on Wednesday 30th March at 7.45pm. The Knutsford Civic Centre is on the main A50 Toft Road adjacent to Knutsford station. The Tatton Room is at the rear of the building and has its own entrance. Suitable trains are the 18.24 from Manchester Piccadilly, due into Knutsford at 19.04 and the 18.57 from Chester, due into Knutsford at 19.37. Suitable return trains are the 21.37 to Manchester Piccadilly and the 22.04 to Chester. There is a large car park adjacent to the Civic Hall, which is accessible via Marcliff Grove, the first side road to the north of the station. We hope for a good turnout of members for this meeting, which will be an opportunity to hear of Northern’s plans for the new franchise. It will also be an opportunity for members to provide constructive suggestions for improvements.
Those attending the meeting of the RPC for North Western England in Manchester on 10th February were informed that the committee would cease to exist as from 30th June this year. The final meeting of the committee will be on Tuesday 14th June at the Mechanics Centre in Manchester, probably starting at 13.30. The meeting will be held in public. The only two RPC offices to survive in England will be in London and Manchester. MCRUA very much regrets the passing of the RPC for the North West. The committee has done much good work over the years in helping rail passengers with information and compensation claims. It has also been effective in holding the rail industry to account. In recent years the work of the committee has widened to include conducting surveys and producing reports on issues of interest to rail users. The fear is that much of the present work of the committee will simply not be done in the new streamlined structure. An RPC Passenger Link Manager is to be based at the RPC office in Manchester. There will also be a national network of 2,500 voluntary passenger advocates.
There are to be a series of 54-hour weekend possessions at Stockport from June for further track remodelling work. This work will presumably include the promised reinstatement of three crossovers on Stockport viaduct and may possibly include the commissioning of the fifth through platform. The reinstatement of the crossover between the up (southbound) fast line and the up slow line will once again enable a failed train in platform 2 to be overtaken using platform 1. Mid-Cheshire line services will presumably only operate between Altrincham and Chester on Saturdays during these weekend possessions. MCRUA will be pressing for ticket availability on the Metrolink Altrincham line.
The MCRUA special train from Altrincham to Bath, Salisbury and Eastleigh on Saturday 14th May is booking well and at the time of writing 320 of the 572 seats had been sold. Please send any bookings to John Oates (address on the back page). Booking forms are available on the MCRUA web site at www.mcrua.org.uk. A booking form is enclosed with this newsletter for the Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership’s steam shuttles between Altrincham and Chester on Sunday 1st May. This year the train will start its day from Altrincham at around 10.30 and the locomotive will be ex-LMS “Black Five” no. 45407 The Lancashire Fusilier, which was formerly owned by the late Paddy Smith of Mobberley. Early booking is recommended to secure a seat. Unlike last year, steam train tickets will also be valid on the five service trains in each direction between Altrincham and Chester.
Another “Clean Up” is planned for Altrincham station in the spring. The next meeting of the FoAI is on Monday 18th April at the Altrincham Baptist Church, Hale Road (opposite its junction with Oxford Road), starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
Central Trains currently has a temporary timetable in force due to the train drivers’ union ASLEF’s refusal to renew a Rest Day Working agreement. This means that there are some two-hour gaps in the train service from Hartford. The journey planner on the National Rail website www.nationalrail.co.uk has been updated to take account of the temporary timetable. MCRUA hopes that the normal timetable can be reinstated as soon as possible. The Central Trains franchise is to be broken up in 2006. The Birmingham-Liverpool service will probably be taken over by either Virgin Cross Country or Northern Rail. There is to be a voluntary working party at Hartford station on Saturday 12th March from 10.00. If you are interested in helping with litter picking or gardening please contact Julia Tasker on 07720-712303 (evenings). The next meeting of MCRUA’s Hartford and Winsford Sub-Committee is at the Red Lion, 277 Chester Road, Hartford, on Monday 25th April, starting at 7.45pm. All MCRUA members are welcome to attend.
Despite its disappearance from pocket timetables and posters, the former First North Western freephone number for train running information, 0800-528-0200, is still available for the time being.
I am writing this on 13 February. Firstly, a minor correction to my last article. The liquid sprayed on the tracks by the Rail Hail Treatment Trains (RHTTs) during the leaf fall season is, we are informed, only water, and not the originally planned very mild form of naturally-occurring acid. Apologies to any of you who may have been caught up in the spray from a passing RHTT and thought it might have been harmful! Since the revised timetable came in on 12 December, the service has run pretty well, though the first couple of weeks were not without their hiccups, not unusual when new traincrew and unit diagrams are introduced.
Piccadilly drivers have taken over many of the diagrams from Victoria drivers, who now find themselves with replacement work taking them over (under?) the Pennines as far as Leeds via Bradford Interchange. There have been a few driver shortages due to the turnover of Piccadilly drivers being higher than over the previous 15-18 months. This has led to cover being provided by Victoria and the almost inevitable delays due to late-running taxis that we thought we had behind us. This should only be a short-term problem, though, as more Piccadilly drivers continue to be trained on our line. Indeed, very few taxis are now used to ferry our train crew around, thank goodness, a policy brought in by Dave Hooper, the Operations Director (West) due to the consistent inability of these taxis to reliably turn up at the time booked. The new diagrams see the first few services out of Chester covered by train crew that meet up at Victoria around 4.30am and go on an empty stock movement to Chester via Warrington Bank Quay. The last traincrew at night now come back on a reverse working to this.
We first see detailed figures for train running under this timetable at the next QIT meeting on 18 February (from this you can detect that the new franchisee, Northern Trains (Serco / NedRail) is continuing, at least for the moment, with the line’s QIT). Whilst we know that one of the previously consistently poor performers, the 07.51 from Piccadilly (now the 07.39) is good, excellent news since it is the most heavily used westbound service in the morning, one of the morning eastbound trains, the 06.57 from Chester, has consistently been 8-10 minutes late into Piccadilly. This appears to have come about for two reasons. Firstly, the timetable has seen the morning peak service reduced by one train, as it has been on a number of other local lines in South Manchester, in order to provide more capacity between Stockport and Piccadilly for Virgin’s long distance services. The unfortunate effect of this is that two trains’ worth of passengers are now concentrated on the 06.57, since it is the train that gives a reasonable pre-9am arrival into Piccadilly and Stockport, as well as Manchester via Metrolink. Secondly, this service, previously a 2 or 3-car class 175 unit, is now diagrammed for a class 142 with only just around 100 seats. The significant standing from Northwich onwards has led to the train being over time at most stations thereafter, causing it to arrive late at Edgeley Junction just before Stockport, missing its path.
I have pressed to have a larger unit allocated to the service, at least a class 150, but it seems that fleet is fully committed elsewhere. As a stopgap measure, Northern Trains are now crewing this service, and often the one that follows it, with two conductors rather than one, so that one concentrates on collecting the revenue on offer, which in the main prior to this was going uncollected, and the other concentrates on keeping the train on time and collecting revenue in between. This has worked, and since this started on Monday 31 January, the train has mainly been on time or even early into Piccadilly. A good result! From June, the plan is that this train will also cease to call at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme, there being a much larger capacity train only 4 minutes later, and which itself has often been delayed by our late-running train. In the longer term, we need our lost morning peak service back to return to a train every half hour. We are pressing for this, but it may take some time.
A number of afternoon trains have been average, rather than good runners, especially the 14.24, 16.24 and 18.24 from Piccadilly. This has mainly been due to driver shortages at Piccadilly. This should be less of an issue from the end of March with more Piccadilly drivers trained on our line. The morning peak train that runs to Greenbank from St Anne’s-on-Sea at 06.36 and originally starts empty from Blackpool North Carriage Sidings has its days(!!) This forms the first off-peak service back from Northwich. We (Northern Rail) are trying to find a way of forming this service by starting it from Piccadilly to make it more reliable. However, this is not as simple as it sounds, as there is currently a need to maintain the number of services between Oxford Road and Stockport at that time in the morning, a need that the 06.36 satisfies and one starting from Piccadilly would not.
There seems to be some confusion at present as to whether Chester depot drivers and conductors are allowed, willing, able, (you chose the verb!!) to help out on our line when Northern are strapped for resource. With the cessation of inter-working from 12 December last, they do not now have diagrams to work class 142 units, (lucky lot!!), the staple traction for our line. There was recently an occasion where there was a unit failure in Chester and a spare class 142 in the Middle Yard. The Piccadilly drivers that were at Chester did not have the route knowledge for the yard where the spare 142 was, and Arriva Trains Wales declined to lend a spare driver to get the 142 out of the yard. The consequence was a cancelled peak train on our line. Not clever, to put it mildly, and also to be discussed next Friday. There are also further related issues here, such as when frost is forecast, will Northern have to taxi a driver to Chester to start up units that are stabled there to save them frosting up, purely because although Arriva Trains Wales has drivers there, they will not do it for whatever reason. Or if a unit runs short of fuel, will it have to be dragged empty back to Manchester by another unit for refuelling, rather than going onto the depot at Chester as previously would have happened. Hopefully, a sensible solution will be found to this.
Turning to the planned replacement buses, we have had very few of these recently. Adrian Barkley, the Stations Manager Manchester South and I have revised the plan yet again (now version 5) with help from Andrew Macfarlane, to confirm the route between Altrincham and Stockport, both via Navigation Road and direct. This revised plan will be considered by the QIT next Friday and then it is expected will be adopted. As mentioned at the beginning the current performance is good. We on the QIT are all working to keep it that way and even hope to improve it a little more.
Following the Christmas report Northern have now fully assumed responsibility for the network and the Mid Cheshire Line in particular. This is a major development and the press have picked up that they are conducting a review of costs associated with the network. This was a condition of the franchise and should not be feared. The press has once again, as with the Community Rail Strategy, got hold of the story and looks very negatively at any review. To stress once again that rail costs are very high, particularly infrastructure, and any reasonable operation must review how it does business. The work of MCRUA in encouraging, lobbying and ensuring the line is valued by the communities served is vital in ensuring that our line is nurtured and maintained is vital and needed as part of the process to demonstrate to politicians that the line is valued and well used.
The Partnership has completed a great deal of work recently to assist with the transfer of responsibility from the Countryside Agency which ceases to be a funding body with effect from 31/3/05 to the North West Development Agency. Funding for the Partnership Officer has been secured in principle until 31/3/06, but the transition is far from complete at the time of writing and it is difficult to predict how the involvement of the Development Agency will affect the Partnership. It is anticipated that there will be a greater emphasis on economic regeneration, which accords very well with the current projects at Northwich and Lostock Gralam.
A meeting has been held with Chris Kimberley - Commercial Director at Northern at which a wide range of issues was discussed. I presented a status report on the line for their consideration; this was received as a working document and effectively forms an extended agenda for the short to medium term. The meeting was extremely cordial and a willingness to engage with and support the work of the Partnership was very evident. Various small issues were raised and settled immediately which was a very encouraging start. The structure of the new company is not complete and the former ATN and FNW offices both still exist, but there are likely to be major changes over the next few months.
The best news this edition is that work has started at Northwich station – work on the Vale Royal side of the building is to be completed by mid year whilst the Network Rail side is scheduled to start on 28/2/05 and last for about six weeks. The work programme is ambitious – only the walls and roof are sound and even then the roof timbers require treating for rot!! The end result should be something that will put the station back at the heart of the community.
As John Kitchen mentions in his report, a DVD/video of a cab ride in a class 142 Pacer train from Chester to Manchester Piccadilly is now available. The footage was filmed last September, just after the end of the summer engineering blockade at Stockport. The video has been produced by Railfilms, who are based on the Isle of Man. If you would like a copy, please send £10 plus £1.50 postage and packing to Telerail, 9a New Street, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9BX, specifying if you would like a DVD or a VHS video. Orders can also be placed on the Railfilms website at www.railfilms.com.
The Northwich Chronicle has recently been running a series of articles on this proposal, which was referred to in John Kitchen’s report. The first thing to stress is that tram train is not about “extending Metrolink to Northwich”. The proposal is for a new service, which would run along the mid-Cheshire line to Altrincham and then join the Metrolink tracks to run into Manchester via Sale. The terminal point in Manchester could be G-Mex or the vehicle could be able to run along the street tracks to a terminus nearer the city centre, possibly even as far as Piccadilly Undercroft. The vehicle would be a “heavy tram” and would either be diesel powered or it would be a diesel/electric hybrid, which could operate off the overhead line on the Metrolink Altrincham line.
The infrastructure changes required for the service would be minimal and would be largely limited to track and signalling alterations north of Altrincham station to enable the vehicle to transfer between the “heavy rail” and Metrolink lines. There would be no question of electrifying the mid-Cheshire line south of Altrincham, which would be hugely expensive. The effect of the proposed service would be to enhance the frequency of the service on the mid-Cheshire line and to offer an alternative route into Manchester via Sale. However it must be stressed that it is very much “early days” for the scheme. The scheme has the merit of a relatively modest cost but requires a full feasibility study before it can make any further progress.
The barrow crossing between platforms 3 and 4 at Altrincham was removed in early December. There was no advance warning of the removal of the crossing, which is or was the only means of disabled access between the booking office/Metrolink platforms and the Chester-bound platform. No alternative arrangements for disabled access were made during the closure of the crossing. MCRUA tabled a question to Network Rail over the issue at the 10th February meeting of the Rail Passengers Committee for North Western England. We deplored the way that the issue had been handled. Simon Brooks, the Public Relations Manager for Network Rail in the North West, informed the meeting that the barrow crossing would be reinstated in mid-March. Network Rail have now decided not to remove the intermediate signals on platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly but they do still intend to introduce a system whereby trains stop at only one place at each of those platforms. A trial of the proposed method of operation is to take place in the near future. An art gallery is to be created inside the former station building at Cuddington, now privately owned by MCRUA member Mrs Booth. The gallery, which will feature work by local artists, is scheduled to open before 1st May. Arriva Trains Wales has announced £1 million worth of improvement work at Chester station. The work will include a new booking office and travel information centre, a self–service ticket machine, a ticket barrier system (automatic ticket gates as on some Merseyrail stations), new shops and refurbished toilets. The scheme is part of the wider Chester Gateway project being led by Cheshire County Council, which aims to achieve major improvements at the station by 2008 to tie in with Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture.
Two special trains are due to travel along the mid-Cheshire line in the near future. On Saturday 26th February “The High Peaks Hustler” operated by Pathfinder Tours will feature a pair of class 37 diesels. The train originates at Birmingham International and visits Liverpool and Buxton before returning to Birmingham via Cheadle Heath, Altrincham, Northwich, Middlewich and Crewe. The train will pass along the mid-Cheshire line in the early evening and the provisional time at Crewe is 20.30. Further details are available on the Pathfinder Tours information line on 01453-836538 (evenings). On Saturday 19th March a steam special is due to run along the mid-Cheshire line. The special, operated by the Railway Touring Company, is due to run from Cleethorpes to Chester and back via Sheffield, Cheadle Heath, Altrincham and Northwich and is due to be hauled by ex-LNER B1 4-6-0 no.61264. Timings for this train will be available nearer the date on www.uksteam.info.
The Sunday “hopper” train from Tunstead to Lostock and Oakleigh did run for the last time on 5th December (although there was a train on Boxing Day, Sunday 26th December). The first flyash train for the Northwich Salt Mine stabilisation scheme ran on Tuesday 25th January. The train consisted of a class 66 locomotive and 14 MBA “monster box” wagons and actually originated from the Potter Group terminal at Selby, the flyash being brought by road from Drax Power Station. The train will be running directly from Drax once the loading facilities there are ready. The flyash train is initially running on three days a week but is due to run daily once traffic builds up. The loaded train is scheduled to run via Manchester Victoria and Warrington Bank Quay, where the Healey Mills driver is relieved by a Warrington man. The train is due to arrive at Oakleigh at 07.30 and the return empty train, which is often routed via Altrincham, is due to depart at 14.20. The associated brine traffic from Oakleigh to Middlewich should be starting in May. A train of refurbished tank wagons in EWS livery had arrived at Northwich sidings by the evening of 7th February. The Lafarge stone traffic to Northenden restarted on Wednesday 2nd February after a period of the train not running.
The Middlewich committee is pressing Cheshire County Council to form a Steering Group to progress the reopening of the Middlewich line. The next meeting of the Middlewich & West Cheshire Committee is on Tuesday 22nd February at the usual venue of the Boar’s Head on Kinderton Street in Middlewich, starting at 7.45pm. All members are welcome to attend.
GMPTE submitted a bid to the Department for Transport on 27th January for £58 million towards the £102 million cost of a scheme to upgrade Phases 1 and 2 of Metrolink (the Altrincham, Bury and Eccles lines). The £58m would come out of the £520 million, which the Government has recently said is available for expenditure on public transport in Greater Manchester. The upgrade scheme includes the purchase of 8 additional vehicles for the Altrincham and Bury lines, the relaying of the track on the Bury line and the replacement of the unloved ticket machines (at a cost of £5 million). MCRUA wishes the PTE well with this long overdue scheme. The fate of the “Phase 3” expansion scheme remains in doubt. It is clear that the whole scheme for all three extensions cannot be afforded at the present time. Some Family Return fares increased when Metrolink fares last went up. Family Returns are available between any two Metrolink stations and offer substantial savings compared with buying individual tickets for adults and children. They also save time and inconvenience. To buy a family return, press the button for your destination and then “Family Return”. Vehicle 1003 was back in service after its mid-life refurbishment at Wolverton Works by 21st January.
Northern Rail increased its fares from 2nd January. One consequence is that the through fares between Knutsford and the Metrolink City Zone via Sale are now cheaper than the fares between Knutsford and Manchester Central Zone via Stockport! The peak return from Knutsford to Metrolink City is £6.40 and the peak return to Manchester Central Zone is £6.60. The off-peak return from Knutsford to Metrolink City is £4.15 and the off-peak return to Manchester Central Zone is £4.40. MCRUA continues to press for fares to Metrolink City and Manchester Central Zone/Stations to be interavailable via both routes. Serco’s involvement with both Metrolink and Northern should in theory make this easier. The GM Rail Ranger went up to £2.70 for adults and £1.35 for children under 16 from 2nd January. The Traincard and the Countycard tickets also went up in price but the Day Saver tickets including travel by rail did not go up. The GMPTE off-peak concessionary fare on local rail services and Metrolink is to increase from 45p to 60p from a date yet to be announced. Holders of GMPTE concessionary passes (often referred to as “bus passes”) are also entitled to pay the concessionary fares on local rail and Metrolink services. The GMPTE bus concessionary fare is going up to 50p from Sunday 27th February. The Midland Mainline advance purchase Twosome return fare of £36 for two adults travelling together is still available between Manchester Piccadilly and London St Pancras. Passengers use connecting trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield. The fare does not appear to be available for return travel from London on Sundays. The website www.qjump.co.uk has been improved and now clearly indicates the availability of different ticket types on particular trains.
Locomotive haulage of the Blackpool North to Manchester Victoria peak hour service and its return working ceased with the end of the First North Western franchise on 10th December. The weekly Stockport-Stalybridge passenger train now departs from Stockport at 11.23 on Saturdays. The planned weekend engineering work on the Manchester-Warrington-Chester line from 1st January was cancelled and the normal weekend train service is running on that line until Sunday 27th March (inclusive). The engineering work will resume from the following weekend and MCRUA has requested that Saturday trains on the mid-Cheshire line be strengthened from April to cater for the extra passengers using the line. The four trains an hour service on the Oldham Loop is to be reinstated from June. The drop-in doctor’s surgery mentioned in a previous newsletter is to be provided at Manchester Piccadilly. Crewe Locomotive Works is to hold an Open Weekend on Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th September. Grand Central’s latest proposal for a York-Manchester Victoria-Chester service via the Calder Valley route is now said to be starting – subject to regulatory approval – in early 2006 and may possibly use class 170 Turbostar trains. The single track bottleneck at Euxton Junction, where the line from Manchester joins the West Coast Main Line south of Leyland, is to be made double track by the end of 2005.
The 8E Railway Association continues to meet monthly at the Gladstone Club, Station Road, Northwich, which is 5 minutes’ walk from Northwich station. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month (except in July and August) at 7.45pm. Visitors are welcome and the forthcoming programme is:
Tuesday 8th March. “The Illustrated History of the Travelling Post Office” by Brian White of the Nene Valley Railway.
Tuesday 12th April. Speciality Evening – Members Only. .
Tuesday 10th May. “Merseyside Area Transport Topics” by Harry Madden. .
Tuesday 14th June. “Early Diesels (60s and 70s) Nationwide” by Chris Loddington.
The Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society is again holding its Winter Lecture Series and the venue is once again the Altrincham Methodist Church, which is on the corner of Barrington Road and Woodlands Road, around 5 minutes’ walk from Altrincham station. The start time is 7.30pm and all of the lectures will this year take place in the main hall. The remaining programme is as follows:
Friday 11th March. “British Steam since 1968” by Geoff Monks. .
Friday 8th April. “Steam around the Dolomites” by John Hobbs.
Admission is £3 (free to AERPS members) and includes free refreshments at the half-time interval. Further details are available from David Walton on 0161-928-4112.
The winter programme of Transport Seminars is again taking place at Manchester University. The venue is the Cordingley Lecture Theatre in the Architecture & Planning Building (to the west of Oxford Road and to the south west of the Precinct Centre) and the start time is 5.30pm on Wednesdays. All are welcome. This year’s theme is “Transport and the next General Election” with the sub-heading “If I was the Secretary of State for Transport...” Remaining dates are: .
Wednesday 2nd March. Speaker from Friends of the Earth. “The Community’s Viewpoint”. .
Wednesday 13th April. Les Lumsdon. “An Academic’s Viewpoint”.
The following people have joined MCRUA since the previous issue of the newsletter was published: .
Mr Robert England, Hale.
Mr D J Horsford, Vicars Cross, Chester.
Mr Alistair Macleod and family, Mobberley.
Mr John Armitage, Victoria Park, Manchester.
Mr J C Nattrass, Hale
A subscription renewal request is enclosed with this newsletter unless you have already renewed for 2005.
We say farewell to Richard Peck, latterly the Managing Director of First North Western. Denise Lennox, formerly Commercial Director of First North Western, is now the Service Delivery Director of Greater Manchester PTE. We wish her well in her new job. We welcome David Godley as the Area Director of Northern Rail for Manchester and Liverpool, located in Manchester. Mr Godley takes up his new position in April. We regret to report the sudden death of Chris Ryan of Whaley Bridge on 19th January. Chris was a long-standing activist in both Transport 2000 and the High Peak Railway Passengers Association, the rail user group for the Manchester-Buxton line. He was also heavily involved in the successful campaign to save the Settle & Carlisle line from closure in the 1980s.
National Rail Enquiries - 08457 48 49 50 (24 hours a day)
The Trainline (bookings by telephone) - 08457 222 333)
Freephone number to report crime on the railway - 0800 40 50 40)
Northern Train Running Information - 0800-528-0200 or 0870 602 33 22)
Helpline for Manchester Piccadilly station - 0845 0000 033)
GMPTE Bus, Rail and Metrolink Enquiries - 0161 228 7811 (08.00 to 20.00) )
Metrolink Enquiries - 0161 205 2000 )
Cheshire Traveline - 01244 602666 (08.00 to 20.00) )
Merseyside PTE Public Transport Enquiry Line - 0151-236-7676 (08.00 to 20.00)
National Public Transport Enquiry Line - 0870 608 2 608)
Rail Passengers Committee for North Western England - 0870 336 6095
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND NEWSLETTER EDITOR Andrew Macfarlane
25 Prestbury Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham WA15 8HY.
Tel: 0161-928-9394 (home) 07910-528502 (mobile). Email: andrew@mcrua.fsnet.co.uk.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY John Allen, 36 Townfields, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8DR.
Tel: 01565-632437. .
MINUTES SECRETARY - Peter Frier, 2 Hawthorn Road, Plumley, Knutsford WA16 OUH.
Tel: 01565-722140. .
QIT, RAILTOURS AND TREASURER - John Oates ”Swallowfield", Slade Lane, Mobberley, Knutsford
Tel: 01565-873059 (home), 07860-513309 (mobile) WA16 7QN.
David Muskett, 1 Bracken Way, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 9BU. Tel: 01565-651524. .
David Miller, 16 Primrose Hill, Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire, CW8 2TZ. Tel: 01606-888093.
Arthur Sancto, 8 Roxby Way, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 9AX.
Tel: 01565-651209. .
Nora Gleave, 35 Navigation Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1LN.
Tel: 0161-941-6204. .
Mike Honeyman, 36 Navigation Road, Northwich, Cheshire, CW8 1BE, Tel: 01606-74920.
Middlewich & West Cheshire Sub-Committee: Chairman: Dave Roberts, 5 Whitley Close, Middlewich, CW10 0NQ. Tel: 01606-833404 (home), 07900-194975 (mobile). .
Hartford & Winsford Sub-Committee: Chairman: Andrew Macfarlane (for details see above).
Membership of the association costs £4 for individuals, £6 for families and £12 for corporate bodies.
If you wish to join please return the form below to MCRUA, 25 Prestbury Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham WA15 8HY. Please make cheques payable to "Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association".
Please send any renewals to John Allen, 36 Townfields, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8DR.