Written evidence submitted by the Stone Railhead Crisis Group (MTP0015)

Executive Summary This evidence is presented by the Stone Railhead Crisis Group (SRCG) based in Staffordshire. The SRCG is extremely concerned that the current HS2 proposals for Phase 2a will significantly reduce existing rail connectivity to, from and within the county and have offered alternative solutions to elements of the project to mitigate the situation. Our proposals include relocating the proposed Phase 2a railhead and maintenance base from Stone, where it will negatively impact the strategically important railway that forms a core part of the West Coast Mainline network, to a location 13km to the north that will provide the catalyst for the reopening of a former railway to Newcastle-under-Lyme and thereafter Stoke- on-Trent. The alternative maintenance base will not only provide HS2 with a superior engineering facility that will be cheaper to construct and operate but the reopened railway will provide the Potteries with the opportunity to secure significant long-term transportation benefits. These would transform the economic well-being of the city conurbation and thereby meet the aspirations of the Government’s levelling-up agenda as set out in its National Infrastructure Strategy.

1. Introduction

1.1 Stone Railhead Crisis Group 1.1.1 The Stone Railhead Crisis Group (SRCG) is a community group that is based in the village of Yarnfield, near Stone in Staffordshire. 1.1.2 SRCG was set up in November 2016 following the Phase 2a Design Refinement Consultation that proposed to relocate a construction railhead and subsequent operational maintenance facility from brownfield land at Basford Hall Sidings, located just south of Crewe, to greenfield land near Stone. 1.1.3 SRCG is a non-political group that is not opposed to the principles of High-Speed Rail. It has wide support from local people and its technical team has represented three parish councils on four occasions throughout the Phase 2a hybrid bill parliamentary process. 1.1.4 SRCG’s key objectives are to:  Seek the best environmental and economic outcomes from HS2 for local people and the wider population of Staffordshire.  Critically assess HS2 Ltd’s Stone Railhead/IMB-R proposals to identify mitigation options, including an alternative location for the facility that would entail the reopening of a former Staffordshire railway.  Prepare technical evidence and present it to influencers and decision makers in order to achieve our objectives.

1.2 Reasons for submitting evidence 1.2.1 SRCG wishes to draw the Transport Committee’s attention to the plight of Staffordshire; specifically, that once Phase 2a of HS2 is operational, the county will receive a far inferior rail service to London, Manchester and Liverpool than it currently enjoys. 1.2.2 We are also extremely concerned that the transportation and economic needs and priorities of Staffordshire will be forgotten and fall between the gaps created by HS2 and the Integrated Rail Plan. 1.2.3 We therefore need action to be taken before it is too late and support Amendment 4 to the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill, which seeks sufficient provision for rail passengers to connect to Phase 2a and, if not, whether the reopening or construction of new lines and stations could achieve this objective. 1.2.4 We also aim to persuade the Transport Select Committee to use its influence to encourage the Government to seek changes to Phase 2a. This will not only help achieve the Government’s levelling-up agenda and greatly benefit the people of Staffordshire, but also provide advantage to HS2 itself and save UK taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds. 1.2.5 We hope that our proposals to reopen a former Staffordshire railway, which would dramatically improve future connectivity in the county and help secure its economic future, will find support in the provisions of the forthcoming Integrated Rail Plan, or any subsequent amendments to it.

2. Transport infrastructure strategy and priorities

2.1 National Infrastructure Strategy High-Speed 2 2.1.1 The National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) describes the importance of HS2, asserting that it is: “Backing HS2 to deliver essential North-South connectivity, with an Integrated Rail Plan to deliver transformational improvements in the Midlands and the North.” 2.1.2 The NIS also includes several other commitments that would suggest that, because Staffordshire is located on the interface between the Midlands and the North, it should benefit from Government investment in railway infrastructure:  “…in the immediate-term new investment will be targeted at smaller local schemes to upgrade existing infrastructure.” [page 25]  “High-speed rail does not just affect those who ride it, but also releases capacity on the classic rail network, meaning better local train connections into the UK’s great cities.” [page 40]. Levelling-up agenda 2.1.3 The NIS also talks extensively about the levelling-up agenda, with the Prime Minister confirming that “Levelling up is my government’s core purpose.” 2.1.4 The Government wants to ensure that no community is left behind and to achieve this objective proposes to create regional powerhouses; making cities the engines of growth and revitalising towns.

2.2 National Infrastructure Commission report 2.2.1 At the time of the preparation of this evidence, the Integrated Rail Plan has not been published. However, the National Infrastructure Commission final report entitled ‘Rail Needs Assessment of the Midlands and the North’, which was published on 15th December 2020, gives us an insight into what it might contain. 2.2.2 Unfortunately, the NIC report makes no mention of Staffordshire and completely ignores the area of the ‘Constellation Partnership’, which is situated between the Midlands Engine and the Northern Powerhouse. 2.2.3 For north-south connectivity, the report relies entirely on the fact that plans for HS2 Phase 2a are already well advanced. The authors therefore see no need to facilitate schemes that benefit the communities through which the HS2 line will pass despite the fact that, in Staffordshire’s case, they will have to put up with many years of construction related misery and chaos and the final outcome will deliver impoverished north-south connections.

3. Impacts of current proposals for Phase 2a on Staffordshire

3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 SRCG has prepared a review of the main railway connections to, from and within Staffordshire, which has been provided to all of Staffordshire’s MPs prior to the forthcoming debate of the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill in the House of Commons. 3.1.2 The report entitled ‘High Speed Rail Phase 2a: Why the current proposals are bad for Staffordshire’s existing and future railway links’ has also been forwarded to the Rt. Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport, by Sir Bill Cash, MP for the Stone constituency. 3.1.3 This report, together with the Executive Summary, can be made available to the Transport Select Committee as required.

3.2 Comparison of rail services before and after Phase 2a opens Existing v future rail services 3.2.1 Staffordshire currently has very good train services to/from London via the West Coast Mainline (WCML) network (see Figure 1) with travel times to London Euston station ranging from 77 minutes for Stafford and 85 minutes for Stoke on-Trent. 3.2.2 The frequency of trains to/from London is also good. Stoke-on-Trent is provided with two trains per hour (tph) and Stafford at least 1tph in each direction according to the weekday timetable that operated prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Figure 1: West Coast Mainline

3.2.3 The current combined total of more than three express trains per hour to/from Staffordshire’s two main rail destinations will be dramatically reduced once the western arm of HS2 is fully operational. 3.2.4 These 3-4 hourly services will be replaced by a single HS2 classic compatible express train per hour in each direction that will be shared between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent and will terminate at Macclesfield, instead of at Manchester Piccadilly. 3.2.5 The existing Pendolino services to Manchester and Liverpool will no longer run to avoid providing competition to HS2 services to the same destinations. Because HS2 services will be operated by the franchise holder of the West Coast services (currently Avanti) when HS2 opens, it is very unlikely the operator will run express trains in competition with its flagship new service. 3.2.6 Worryingly, even Staffordshire’s proposed token HS2 classic compatible service is vulnerable to being cut from the timetable before it starts to operate. 3.2.7 This service was included in the original plan when HS2 schedules were based on the assumption that London Euston would have a capacity of 18tph. However, signalling limitations have reduced this capacity to 14tph. 3.2.8 In addition, multiple design constraints at Euston will mean that its opening to HS2 services will be delayed by at least three years. This will mean that Old Oak Common will initially operate as the London terminus of HS2, which will cut capacity to just 10tph. Additional impact on the Norton Bridge to Stone Railway 3.2.9 The proposed HS2 classic compatible service to Macclesfield will use the strategically important 6km long Norton Bridge to Stone Railway, which connects the main WCML from just north of Stafford to the direct London to Manchester line at Stone. 3.2.10 The Norton Bridge to Stone Railway is already used by two Cross Country services per hour1 between Manchester and the South West or South Coast via Stafford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, as well as an hourly NorthWestern service to London. 3.2.11 Consequently, once HS2 is operational this line will acquire the dubious honour of being the only railway in the UK to have its capacity reduced by HS2. 3.2.12 This means that Staffordshire’s local rail network will not be able to run additional services once HS2 has opened, nor gain any benefit from the promised capacity improvements created by HS2. 3.2.13 In addition, HS2 is proposing to potentially reduce the capacity of the Norton Bridge to Stone Railway further by locating its Infrastructure Maintenance Base – Rail (IMB-R)2 on this short section of line. 3.2.14 Although HS2 Ltd has confirmed its intention for its supply trains to visit the Stone IMB-R by night, it has admitted in writing that it has no idea how many supply trains it will need to maintain the western arm of HS2 in 20, 50 and 100 years time. 3.2.15 Given the negative impact of HS2 on Staffordshire’s train services to London, it is vitally important that the county be allowed to take advantage of the freeing up of train paths on the WCML and its branch network once HS2 opens. 3.2.16 To achieve this the proposed Stone Railhead/IMB-R must be relocated away from the strategically important Norton Bridge to Stone Railway.

4. How changes to Phase 2a could provide rail connectivity and economic benefits

4.1 Relocating the Phase 2a Railhead/IMB-R to Aldersey’s Rough 4.1.1 In January 2017, SRCG presented HS2 Ltd with a report that provided details of an alternative location for its Phase 2a Railhead/IMB-R. 4.1.2 Aldersey’s Rough is situated 13km to the north of Stone, next to the route of the former Newcastle-under-Lyme/Stoke to Market Drayton Railway and within 1.5km of where the HS2 mainline crosses the WCML at Madeley Chord Junction (see Figure 2). Figure 2: Outline design of the alternative Railhead/IMB-R at Aldersey’s Rough 4.1.3 Aldersey’s Rough also has quick and easy access to the M6 via Keele Services and is located exactly half-way between Delta Junction on Phase One and Manchester Piccadilly at the northern end of Phase 2b (West). Unlike Stone, it would have the capacity to maintain the entire western arm of HS2 from just north of Birmingham, thereby saving an estimated £500 million on the existing HS2 proposals due to avoiding the need to build an additional Railhead and IMB-R at Ashley, on Phase 2b (West). 4.1.4 SRCG’s report of January 2017 also contained a comparative analysis of the two alternative Railhead/IMB-Rs against a range of engineering and environmental criteria, which has been updated for the purposes of giving evidence in parliament. 4.1.5 This analysis shows that Aldersey’s Rough represents a far superior solution to Stone. It has also been calculated3 that it could be constructed in half the time and save the taxpayer £93 million in building costs.

4.2 Opportunities created from reopening the Newcastle (Stoke) to Market Drayton line Problems with existing rail connections 4.2.1 Although Staffordshire has good links to London and currently to Manchester Piccadilly as well as Liverpool Lime Street, the existing situation at Crewe represents a significant constraint to rail connections across the WCML, especially from Stoke-on-Trent, whose line into Crewe is reduced to single track over a distance of just under 5km on the approach to the town, and which terminates at a dead end on the east side of the station (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Track layout at and near Crewe Station

4.2.2 The WCML creates a barrier to onward travel at Crewe by preventing other lines from crossing its path without undertaking ‘conflicting moves’. This problem will be exacerbated by HS2 classic compatible services using the WCML fast lines to stop at Crewe and provide replacement future express services to Liverpool, Preston and Scotland. 4.2.3 In order to address the conflicting moves problem for trains travelling from southwest to northeast, HS2 Ltd has adopted a proposal to use the currently freight- only twin track ‘Manchester Independent’ lines (shown in green) for passenger services and construct new platforms on these lines on the western side of Crewe station (see Figure 4). 4.2.4 This will not only enable future services approaching Crewe from the southwest or northeast to cross beneath the mainline without causing conflicting moves but will also enable new local services using the many available post-HS2 train paths on the adjacent WCML slow lines (shown in orange) to do likewise. Figure 4: Resolution of conflicting moves at Crewe

4.2.5 Figure 5 represents a schematic layout of the existing railway in Staffordshire relative to Crewe and its connections to the north, as well as HS2, and shows the location of the proposed Stone Railhead/IMB-R, together with the alternative at Aldersey’s Rough. 4.2.6 Since Aldersey’s Rough would be accessed via the reopening of a short section of the Newcastle/Stoke to Market Drayton Railway by reconnecting the line to the WCML at Madeley Chord Junction, it offers the ideal opportunity to extend the reopening of the line further to the east and the 8km to Newcastle-under-Lyme, which lost its railway station to the Beeching closures in 1965. Figure 5: Schematic layout of existing railway network relative to HS2

4.2.7 Figure 6 shows the route of the former railway superimposed onto an aerial photograph. Figure 6: Route of the former Newcastle/Stoke to Market Drayton Railway 4.2.8 Figure 7 illustrates in schematic form the possibilities for rail services that could accrue from reopening the Newcastle/Stoke to Market Drayton Railway beyond Aldersey’s Rough. Figure 7: New local/regional rail services to/from Staffordshire with HS2

4.2.9 With Madeley Chord Junction located just 9km to the south of Crewe Station on the WCML, it is easy to see how North Staffordshire could gain from HS2 and the proposal for dealing with conflicting moves at Crewe Station and the dead-end connection from Stoke-on-Trent. 4.2.10 Whilst the benefits of reopening the line could be gained relatively quickly for Newcastle-under-Lyme and the business and education centre of the Keele University and Business and Innovation Park located close to the route, a further phase of rail investment would enable the final 2km section between Newcastle- under-Lyme and the still-present spur on the northwest side of Stoke Station. 4.2.11 The reopening of the railway would result in the following transformational transportation benefits to Staffordshire:  The creation of new direct local and regional services between Newcastle- under-Lyme (initially) and Stoke-on-Trent (subsequently) to the main destinations, together with intervening stations along the following routes: o Manchester Airport o Liverpool o Warrington and Preston o Chester and North Wales o Northwich  Connection to HS2 classic compatible services and other regional services via Crewe.  The reopening of local stations at Silverdale and Keele (and potentially at other locations) on the Newcastle/Stoke to Market Drayton Railway, and at Madeley on the WCML.  Direct rail access to Liverpool docks for Staffordshire’s burgeoning logistics industry.  The opportunity for minerals to be transported by rail from North Staffordshire’s quarries. 4.2.12 In addition, consideration could be given to creating a new parkway station at Whitmore or taking advantage of the freeing up of the fast lines on the WCML south of Crewe, following the opening of Phase 2a, by creating a new direct service to Stafford and potentially beyond. 4.2.13 Once the connection is made to Stoke Station, this would create further opportunities for city-wide transportation to the eastern suburbs of Stoke-on-Trent and East Staffordshire and give fresh impetus to the proposal to reopen the Leek line. 4.2.14 The proposal would also minimise the risk of business drift from North Staffordshire into Crewe and South Cheshire. 4.2.15 The new train services would also make a significant contribution to Newcastle Borough Council’s ‘Growth Deal’ although, given the experience of elsewhere in the UK when former railway lines and stations have reopened, the biggest beneficial impacts arise from the following factors:  The railway naturally brings a degree of direct employment, but there is also subsidiary employment around railway stations.  The improved connectivity allows skills to be transferred between towns and cities, so inward and outward travel for employment rises.  There is a huge increase in journey opportunities, i.e. additional destinations for local people to travel to for work, education or leisure, which raises aspirations.  Footfall will increase in Newcastle town centre, thereby potentially creating a virtuous circle of more shops, more investment and even higher footfall.  Newcastle Borough and Stoke-on-Trent would become attractive to investors; thereby driving up employment opportunities.  Visitors from outside the area are attracted, whether for shopping, tourism or other purposes.  Land values along the rail corridor increase significantly, with some areas reporting up to 70% increase in property price. January 2021

Footnotes

1 All references to train frequencies are for each direction, i.e. two per hour equates to four trains using the railway. 2 The Stone IMB-R is located on the same site as the Stone Railhead, which will take a minimum of four years to construct before being used to install HS2 slab track and overhead power systems for approximately 3 years. 3 Evidence of Michael Byng to House of Lords Select Committee on 15th September 2020.