Friday 25th November was a great day for Northwich station. Transport Minister Derek Twigg, the MP for Halton, officially opened the new community learning centre (“the zone”) in the station building. The scheme has come to fruition thanks to a partnership of a number of bodies but Vale Royal Borough Council must take the most credit for driving the project forward. Their partners were Cheshire County Council, the Learning and Skills Council Cheshire, Network Rail, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Northern Rail. Mr Twigg unveiled a plaque inside the building to mark the event and guests were entertained with music and song by children from Rudheath High School. The zone offers a wide range of learning and training opportunities. It features access to ICT learning, a large multi-purpose training room and a cyber cafe with a coffee shop provided by local company Caffe Arabica. All courses in the zone are free and include such subjects as “E-mail and Internet for Beginners” and “Animation!”. For information on courses please ring 01606-45724. The day also saw the unveiling of the refurbished station clock, which had returned from its original manufacturers, Joyce of Whitchurch. MCRUA warmly congratulates all those involved with this great scheme and we wish the zone every success for the future.
To coincide with the opening of the zone, a new type of ticket is to be introduced by
Northern Rail from 2nd January. The Mid Cheshire PM Return will be available for travel from
Northwich after 12 noon 7 days a week. It will only be sold from Northwich station booking
office and the cyber cafe located in the zone at Northwich station. The new ticket will enable
users of Northwich station to buy a rail ticket to destinations on the mid-Cheshire line from
the cyber cafe when the booking office is closed. Stations on the line are grouped into two
zones. Zone 1 covers stations between Mouldsworth and Navigation Road (inclusive). Zone 2
includes Chester, Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly. Prices are:
Zone 1: Adult Return: £2.50, Child (5-15) £1.25
Zone 2: Adult Return: £5.00, Child (5-15) £2.50.
There are no further railcard discounts. Tickets are valid by any train departing from Northwich
after 12 noon, returning by any train the same day. Mid Cheshire PM Return tickets cannot be purchased on the train and are not available for travel to Chester on Race Days. MCRUA welcomes the fact that these fares offer a considerable saving compared with the normal cheap day return fares.
As mentioned in the previous newsletter, the Cheadle Hulme-Crewe line is completely blocked from 11th December to 26th March. The Manchester-Cardiff service will start from Manchester Oxford Road station during this period and will run to Crewe via Warrington Bank Quay. There will be a Wilmslow-Manchester Airport-Manchester Piccadilly train service on Monday to Friday only during the blockade and this will call at all stations including Styal. The commissioning of the new signalling at Ardwick for the new train depot for Trans-Pennine Express is to take place on Monday 27th February. There is therefore likely to be disruption to services into and out of Manchester Piccadily from the east and south on that day and over the preceding weekend. Most of the reinstated pointwork at the north end of Stockport station has yet to be commissioned and so there will presumably be further blockades for this work to be done. The new platform zero at Stockport is however now fully commissioned and is scheduled to be used by four or possibly five passenger trains per day from the December timetable change. Fortunately for us, the track layout does not enable trains to reach the mid-Cheshire line from platform zero.
A new National Rail timetable begins on the EU-standard timetable change date of 11th December and runs through to 10 June 2006. The new guide 17 pocket timetable for the mid-Cheshire line is enclosed with this newsletter. On the outside this looks identical to the previous pocket timetable. Northern Rail could consider changing the colour of pocket timetables with each timetable change to make it more obvious to the travelling public that the times have in fact changed. The standard departure time from Chester changes from 57 past to 04 past the hour except in the evening when trains still depart at 57 past the hour except what becomes the 21.00 and the last train at 22.45. The 13.33 Sunday Altrincham to Chester service is retimed to depart earlier at 13.20 and the 16.25 Sunday Altrincham to Chester becomes the 16.30. The 08.35 Sunday Chester to Altrincham becomes the 08.48 from Chester. This now provides a 7-minute connection out of the first Merseyrail service from the Wirral line, something which MCRUA very much welcomes and which the Wirral Transport Users Association has been campaigning for for many years.
MCRUA is disappointed that the 09.31 Northwich to Blackpool North service does not start from Greenbank despite our suggestion of how this could be achieved for no capital cost. We are also disappointed that the Sunday 20.10 from Chester (the last Sunday train) departs four minutes before the boat train from Holyhead arrives into Chester. Also disappointing is that there no mention in the pocket timetable that through tickets are available from any National Rail station to any Metrolink station and that National Rail tickets are valid on the Metrolink Altrincham line on Sundays. It is now a year since the pocket timetable informed passengers that through tickets were available to Metrolink stations and some passengers are incurring additional expense and inconvenience by rebooking at Altrincham, unaware that through tickets are available. Finally we are disappointed that the 0800 freephone number for Northern Rail train running information, 0800-528-0200, is not publicised in the pocket timetable. Passengers can ring this number from the cardphones, which First North Western had installed at many stations, without using a phone card. We will continue to press Northern Rail on these issues. The new National Rail Timetable book is available at W H Smith outlets at stations for £12.
I am writing this on 22 November which is around two thirds through the “leaf fall season”, a time when leaves falling off the trees and landing on the rails become reduced to leaf mulch, causing the lines to become very slippy for steel-railed vehicles. Very similar in fact to the effect that those of you with leather-soled shoes will be aware of on pavements when the damp and the leaves combine to make the surface, particularly on paving stones, treacherous.
This year’s approach to leaf fall has been varied a little from last year. The “Rail Head Treatment Train” (RHTT) has again run, though starting one week earlier than last year, and possibly to run up to one week later than last year. Last year we had a bad start to the leaf fall season with lots of sliding before the RHTT started running. This year has been much better, and although it is not wise to compare leaf fall seasons too closely year on year, each one being noticeably different, this season seems to have gone better than any of us can remember. For this year, Network Rail has invested about £3m in more leaf fall trains with much greater water capacity (this year on our line “topped and tailed” by EWS class 66s, rather than the class 37s used last year) and has also changed the system so that the high-pressure water jetting is carried out at 1000 bar (1000 times gravity) for the whole of the line covered, rather than just in selected locations. Overall, the effect has been very good, with “Sandite”, (the sandy paste) hand applied at only the most prone locations (Cuddington on our line), also further reducing the chance of the Sandite clogging up the track circuits and causing the signalling to fail.
The exception to good performance has been on Mondays. The RHTT does not run on Saturdays and Sundays as EWS does not have enough drivers to cover the train as well as covering the driving of all its trains needed for the large amount of engineering work carried out at weekends. Thus, by far the worst days for slipping and sliding on the line have been Mondays. This was discussed at the last QIT meeting on 7 November. We know that there are instances where passenger train drivers have been trained to drive class 66s to cover when there is a shortage of freight drivers, Chiltern Trains being one. Whether this could be carried out for our line at weekends, rather than one of the RHTTs sitting at Chester all weekend with no driver whilst our line gets really slippy until Monday night, remains to be seen. The train performance on the line is good for the time of year, though not as good as it might be due to what appears to be four factors:
David Godley, Area Director (West) since last April and our QIT chairman, left on 12 November to join Serco Metrolink as its Managing Director. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire” doesn’t start to say it! His efforts in this short period have been very much appreciated. We wish him the very best at Metrolink, if only since performance on Metrolink affects our line’s passengers so greatly. Indeed, just about the biggest set of complaints we get is about poor performance on Metrolink, with late running and breakdowns leading to trams turning round at Timperley and our passengers then missing their connecting trains at Altrincham (and having to endure the “salubrious surroundings” of platform 4, or the grotty café at the nearby Tesco for half an hour or so!)
The QIT next meets on 3 January with its new chairman, Paul Rushton, who is Acting Area Director (West). Network Rail, Northern Rail, the Community Rail Partnership and MCRUA continue to work towards improving our services. As ever, if you have suggestions for improvements or performance problems to report, please let me know.
In a correction to the previous issue, it is Mouldsworth signal box, which is to be “abolished” in 2006. The box’s work will be taken over by Mickle Trafford box for a period until the Chester Power Signal Box area is extended to link up with Greenbank box. 16-year old Fiona Washington, a girl who terrorised railway passengers and police at Northwich station has been given an anti-social behaviour order or ASBO. On August 1, she and another teenager screamed abuse at passengers on a train at Northwich station and then started hitting windows with a builder’s trowel and a tyre lever. She had to be put in leg restraints by police as she repeatedly ran from them, hit an officer with her fists, grabbed and squeezed a male officer’s private parts and kicked him on the shins in a bid to escape arrest. Fiona has been prohibited from entering Northwich station except to attend Entry to Employment (E2E) or when accompanied by a parent. MCRUA welcomes the action taken by the authorities in this case.
There was an issue with Wayfarer tickets not being valid on what became the 09.26 train to Manchester from Northwich on Monday to Friday from the start of the September timetable. First North Western allowed such tickets to be used on this train when it departed just before 09.30 but Northern Rail has taken a different view, requiring passengers to buy a single to Plumley in addition to the Wayfarer if they wished to use the 09.26. The cheap day return from Northwich to Manchester was valid on the 09.26 because that fare is available after 09.15 (it is a code “B2”). The problem solves itself from 12th December because the train time reverts to 09.31 but the same issue will presumably arise again next autumn. MCRUA regrets that Northern Rail did not choose to allow Wayfarer tickets on the 09.26 from Northwich.
There has been a problem with poor or no heating on class 142 “Pacer” units in the early morning on cold days and there have been several instances of passengers being able to see their breath. We hope that Northern Rail can address this issue. JPD at Plumley station are to continue the Cheshire Best Kept Station Competition despite John Hulme selling the business. MCRUA welcomes the continuation of the competition. A temporary ice rink may be built on the Oakfield Road car park at Altrincham (the large car park behind the Chester-bound platform) during 2006. This is in advance of the major redevelopment scheme for the site, which is scheduled to include a permanent ice rink as well as an underground car park for 960 vehicles. Construction work has now started on the new cinema in Altrincham (on the former Denmark Street car park across the railway line from Tesco’s). Ticket gates are to be installed at Chester station during 2006. There will always be a staff presence to assist passengers whilst the gates are in use. Two new arrival/information boards have been installed above the “barrier line” at Manchester Piccadilly. Also at Piccadilly a new NHS Drop-in centre has opened on Piccadilly Approach for use by rail passengers. The centre is open from 7am to 7pm on Monday to Friday only.
The big news to report is the decision by Trafford Borough Council in October to delete the Trafford Interchange scheme from its Unitary Development Plan (UDP). This was the scheme for a major rail freight terminal at Carrington on the former Skelton Junction (Timperley) to Glazebrook line. This highly disappointing news took the developers, Shell and Burford Holdings, by surprise and there was talk of a legal challenge to the decision. It is disappointing that Trafford has chosen to put “NIMBY” considerations ahead of the wider national environmental benefits, which the scheme would have provided. The reopening of the Skelton Junction to Partington line may however still go ahead for the chemical traffic mentioned in the last newsletter. At the time of writing (6th December) we were awaiting a response from EWS on this issue. The Northwich (Oakleigh) to Middlewich (British Salt) brine traffic began in early August. The train is booked to depart from Oakleigh at 09.02 and to depart from Middlewich at 14.10. The Lafarge stone traffic from Dowlow to Northenden has now restarted. Contrary to the statement in the previous newsletter, the Northenden and Bredbury “binliner” services remain with EWS, who have recently been awarded a new contract. Indian firm Tata Chemicals is to acquire Brunner Mond Group Limited, the operators of the two soda ash manufacturing plants in the Northwich area (Lostock and Winnington). It remains to be seen what effect the takeover will have on the future of the two plants and the rail traffic which serves them. Quinn Glass in Elton (near Helsby) has started using EWS to convey its products between between Widnes and Mossend (central Scotland). The possibility of installing a direct rail link into the site is being investigated. This would presumably be a siding off the Helsby-Hooton line.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has indicated that it will be consulting on options for streamlining rail services provided under the Northern Rail franchise in the New Year. County Councils and PTEs will be formal consultees but rail user groups and individuals will also be able to make their views known on the proposals, which will be published on the DfT website. MCRUA understands that the proposals may not be as significant as they might have been following representations by Labour MPs with seats in the North of England. Members can however rest assured that MCRUA will strongly oppose any proposals to withdraw services or close stations on the mid-Cheshire line. We hope that members will also make their views known to the DfT.
A Report from the Steeeering Group. to progress the reopening scheme has now been set up under the Chairmanship of Cheshire County Councillor Mark Dickson. Andrew Macfarlane is representing MCRUA on the steering group and the Middlewich Rail Link Campaign is represented by Vernon Perkins. Work is ongoing to investigate train service options and site options for a new Middlewich station.
A number of road traffic accidents involving trams and road vehicles has led to a shortage of trams during the autumn. The most serious of these involved a collision between a lorry and a tram at the notorious Corporation Street/Balloon Street crossing outside Victoria station. The force of the collision caused the tram to partially derail. A Serco Metrolink spokesperson’s comment that “a wheel came off [the track]” was amusingly interpreted by the local press as meaning that a wheel had fallen off the tram. There was an off-peak fare increase from Monday 28th November. The Altrincham-Manchester off-peak day return increased from £3.30 to £3.50 and the adult Metromax off-peak day ranger increased from £3.40 to £3.60 (£1.70 for children). To buy a Metromax ticket, passengers need to press the button for the type of Metromax they require (Adult, Family, Weekend) and then the separate “Metromax” button. Metrolink services will this year operate until 00.30 on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Greater Manchester PTA is also considering extending Metrolink’s operating hours at weekends (presumably on Sundays).
Virgin Trains is to increase its already high unregulated fares (e.g. Standard Returns) by 5% plus the Retail Price Increase from 2nd January. Saver fares are regulated and will not therefore be increasing by as much. Virgin Trains has announced a 40% increase in the sales of its cheap book-ahead tickets since it simplified its fares structure in September. If you are buying a cheap book-ahead ticket, it is strongly recommended that you buy a ticket covering your entire journey (e.g. Knutsford to London). If you book a ticket from (say) Stockport to Euston and your connecting train on the mid-Cheshire line is delayed or cancelled so that you miss your train at Stockport, you will never be reimbursed by Northern for having to buy a new ticket for the Stockport-Euston leg. However if you have booked a throughout “cheapie” ticket and you miss the conecting train at Stockport through no fault of your own, then your ticket will simply be accepted on a later service (although suspicious guards may phone to check that the delay really occurred!). You will also qualify for compensation for the delay for the WHOLE journey from the company, which delayed you first. Apex fares will remain available for journeys from Manchester and Stockport to the West of England via Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport following the withdrawal of the Arriva Trains Wales Manchester-Penzance through train from the December timetable change. In future through passengers via this route will have to change at Newport. Midland Mainline’s 4-Sight advance purchase fare of £48 for 4 adults travelling together between Manchester Piccadilly and London St Pancras remains available. Passengers use Central Trains or Trans-Pennine Express services to connect with MML services at Sheffield. The GM Bus and Train Day Saver ticket went up to £4 from 25th September. National Fares Manuals are no longer distributed via Teamwork Direct of York. TSO (formerly known as The Stationery Office) now has the contract. Manuals can be ordered for £15.00 each (including postage and packing). For an order form please ring James Parker on 01603-696860 or email him at james.parker@tso.co.uk. The North West edition of the National Fares Manual is ISBN 0117910015.
Chris Kimberley, the Commercial Director of Northern Rail, told a recent meeting of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport that no Northern Rail route was showing a decline in revenue and that several were showing increases of more than ten per cent (so it is hardly a time to be cutting services – Ed). Trans-Pennine Express recently unveiled the first of its new class 185 Siemens Desiro diesel trains to the media at Wildenrath in Germany (where the trains are being tested). The fleet of 51 new trains, to be based at the new depot at Ardwick, is to be introduced into service from March 2006. The December timetable change sees the start of a two-hourly Holyhead-Cardiff service via Chester, Wrexham General and Shrewsbury. Combined with the existing two-hourly Chester-Shrewsbury-Birmingham service this will provide the long-awaited and much-needed hourly service between Chester and Shrewsbury. The new Liverpool South Parkway station (formerly Allerton station) is now due to open in June 2006. Etruria station north of Stoke-on-Trent closed after the last trains called on Friday 30th September.
The following person has joined MCRUA since the previous issue of the newsletter was published: Mr Derek Bowyer, Knutsford
We welcome Stuart Latham as the new regular railman at Northwich station. We also welcome Greg Yates as the new Cheshire County Transport Co-ordinator and we say farewell to Garth Goddard, who has been seconded to a position at North West level. Keith Brown (66), Britain’s longest serving signalman, retired at the end of October after 52 years’ service. Keith joined BR in 1954 at the age of 14 and worked in a total of 265 signal boxes in the Manchester area, his last being Stockport No.1.
Opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the MCRUA committee.
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 Rail Train Running Information - 0800-528-0200 or 0870 602 33 22
Northern Rail Customer Relations - 0845 600 11 59
Rail Passengers Council (complaints appeals) - 08453 022 022
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 (bus and rail enquiries) - 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
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN and NEWSLETTER EDITOR:
Andrew Macfarlane, 25 Prestbury Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham WA15 8HY;
Tel: 0161-928-9394.
SECRETARY & WEBMASTER:
Arthur Sancto, 8 Roxby Way, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 9AX.
Tel: 01565-651209.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY:
John Allen, 36 Townfields, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8DR.
Tel: 01565-632437.
MINUTES SECRETARY & SPECIAL TRAINS:
Peter Frier, 2 Hawthorn Road, Plumley, Knutsford WA16 OUH.
Tel: 01565-722140.
COMMITTEE MEMBER& LOCAL REP FOR HALE:
Peter Davies, 53 Acacia Avenue, Hale, Altrincham, WA15 8QY.
Tel: 0161-233-0438.
COMMITTEE MEMBER - John Hill, Glenferry, Plumley Moor Road, Plumley, Knutsford,
Cheshire, WA16 OTR.
Tel: 01565-722423.
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 (details above).
MCRUA QIT REPRESENTATIVE John Oates ”Swallowfield", Slade Lane, Mobberley,
Knutsford, WA16 7QN. Tel: 01565-873059 (home), 07860-513309 (mobile).
MID CHESHIRE COMMUNITY RAIL PARTNERSHIP OFFICER John Kitchen
Mobile number: 07909-872667
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 subscription renewals to John Allen, 36 Townfields, Knutsford, WA16 8DR.
Name ________________________________________________
Address_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
12/05 __________________________Postcode_______________
Family/Individual* New Member/Renewal* - * Please delete as appropriate