Feature Operations Mid-Cheshire: victim of its own success? f you were suddenly to awake to fi nd packed trains and tidy stations rarely lead to yourself on a train, unsure of where you STEVE BROADBENT visits the Mid-Cheshire Line, improvements in train comfort, seat numbers were, and you then looked out of the where patronage is being boosted by volunteer or train frequency. In a world where the carriage window at a well-kept station cascade of quality trains from the busier Iwith carefully tended fl owerbeds and hanging efforts, but with such success that its antiquated lines to the more rural has almost stopped, baskets, you’d be safe to assume you were volunteer efforts are going unrewarded. on a line that boasted a Community Rail trains are often overcrowded Buttifant and Oates are working hard to Partnership. promote the Mid-Cheshire, against challenges You look further, and notice station displays 600 members, it is probably the second biggest groups readily engage with the Mid-Cheshire that put a brake on success. of excellent art works, and boxes handily in the country after the Friends of the Settle & campaigners (for want of a better word), for In March 2013 Transport for Greater containing timetables and information on Carlisle), and the sum is a train full of all sorts the real benefi t of the line. Manchester, Cheshire West & Chester local walks and facilities. of travellers - shoppers, tourists, students and But there is a sting in the tail - especially in Council, and Cheshire East Council If the countryside is rolling, green and commuters. the North of England, but also in many of the commissioned a study into the line’s future pleasant, you might well be travelling on the That’s what CRPs and good rail user groups semi-rural areas that are home to CRPs. from consultant JMP. Originally due for Mid-Cheshire Line, on which hourly trains do - attract to the railway signifi cant business If you are on the train during the morning publication in the summer, the report had still clatter and amble from the urban areas of that the train operator could not otherwise or evening ‘rush hours’, you may well fi nd to be published as this issue of RAIL closed for Manchester and Stockport through what the attract. yourself standing, emulating a canned press. newspapers traditionally call the ‘Cheshire The Mid-Cheshire CRP, led by Sally sardine. As the train’s conductor releases the Buttifant emphasises the partnership nature stockbroker belt’ to Northwich and Chester. Buttifant and chaired by John Oates, has a lid on your sardine can, you are unwittingly of the CRP/MCRUA work, and the way Add the enthusiastic and wide-ranging reputation for achievement. swept onto the platform by the tide of the everyone works together: “We’re all about work of the line’s Community Rail Partnership Alongside it the MCRUA, also under sardines behind you, seeking the sanctuary of creating partnership working, and asking (CRP) to the constructive approach and Oates’ chairmanship and with its positive home, school or offi ce. people to bring their skills to our different passionate engagement of the Mid-Cheshire approach, is making a real difference. Rail Despite the huge success of CRPs, and projects. While money is limited, more often Rail Users Association (MCRUA, with over industry bodies, local councils and other local of the Mid-Cheshire groups in particular, than not people will help when asked.” The idea of having art works, plants and information is to “bring a sense of ownership to a station”, she continues. Above: Mid-Cheshire Line passengers disembark from Northern 156440 at Chester in May 2012. Such simple touches not only help make MID-CHESHIRE CRP. the station environment more pleasant, they also help eliminate graffi ti and lower forms of Left: The Mid-Cheshire Line is a combination of anti-social behaviour. They also help lay the urban stations, market towns and rural villages. In foundations for growing passenger numbers typically scenic surroundings, Northern 156482 and revenue, which in turn helps with the stands at Ashley station in June 2011. prosperity of local businesses and the use of MID-CHESHIRE CRP. the train for travelling to jobs, education or healthcare. Below: Northern 156423 arrives at Navigation Road with a Manchester-Chester train on July 19 Oates points to the number of schools that 2012. The wires that are visible are for Manchester are located close to stations on the line, and Metrolink trains. The Metrolink and the Mid- the fact that given the rural nature of the area’s Cheshire Line each use one platform at the station. roads and the congestion in nearby towns, CHRIS POOLE. “kids use the train to go to school”. December 25 2013-January 7 2014 RAIL 738 49 Feature Operations And they continue to use it at weekends. There is a video taken in Given the high costs that teenagers face in Mid-Cheshire Line Manchester Piccadilly insuring a car, he adds: “We see far more 2002, and the first thing young people using the train, where in Key previous times they would already have had that strikes you is how Stations their fi rst car. There is a video taken in 2002, NR lines and the fi rst thing that strikes you is how empty the trains were then Manchester Metrolink empty the trains were then - you’ll see fi ve or - you’ll see five or ten Closed line ten passengers where today there are 60 or to Manchester 70.” passengers where today Note: For clarity some Victoria More and more school classes are also using lines/stations are omitted the railway as part of their studies. And even there are 60 or 70. Navigation Road Stockport Hale Altrincham in this area of high incomes and smart cars, John Oates, Chairman, To Buxton there is a strong trend to use the railway, to Lostock Gralam Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association Ashley To Crewe avoid traffi c jams and high in-town parking N charges. Northwich Mobberley This merely scratches the surface of the Of course, this success brings a severe role played by the CRP and MCRUA, with downside - gross overcrowding at times, Knutsford more than 3,000 volunteer hours dedicated something that Oates prefers to describe as Plumley each year to supporting the line and its “leaving passengers behind”. Greenbank development. They also pride themselves on But with just an hourly service, which is Cuddington Northern 150218 and 150145 approach Ashley with a train for Manchester Piccadilly on July 19 2012. positive relationships with the local press, perversely slightly worse in the peak time, Mouldsworth Delamere CHRIS POOLE. which greatly boosts their cause. that’s no joke. Knutsford, the busiest station on the Oates says that a local council is saving Chester To Middlewich Cheshire part of the line (other than Chester £250,000 a year by withdrawing bus and taxi Passenger numbers and investment itself), is worthy of particular attention. travel for some students, so they all go by Spending money on improving rail services So over a whole year, Mid-Cheshire Rail Here, a long strip of previously derelict land train. And they pack a train that is ‘contrafl ow’ is tied to current and forecast passenger Users Association committed a large number between the car park and the platform has - away from Manchester in the mornings (the shoppers and tourists, probably busier than on the route via Sale now taken by the trams. numbers and revenue, and to the prediction of volunteer hours to carrying out manual been transformed. After Buttifant had tried 0717 Piccadilly departure). any other ‘local’ route in the North West. After Metrolink was introduced, they were of future increases if that spending is counts of passengers on over 1,000 trains. everybody she could think of to help with the “This is a major headache,” says Oates. He Also, the major road that parallels the line diverted along the previously freight-only (and committed. MCRUA Chairman John Oates says the work, the Knutsford in Bloom volunteer group says Northern would very much like to add (the A556) is among the busiest in the North still single-track) line to Stockport. However, the passenger numbers data ties in well with that recorded by the stepped in to clear the site and provide an a carriage or two to the busiest services, but West, so there is considerable latent demand After Stockport, the Mid-Cheshire services published by the Offi ce of Rail Regulation on-train passenger counting system. “In array of fl owers. simply doesn’t have even one available here for the railway to cope with, if it could provide have to fi nd a way into Piccadilly. But the 2008 can sometimes be inaccurate, owing to some cases our fi gures are 30%-50% higher The site is now maintained by the local (or, indeed, anywhere else). an attractive alternative service for motorists. timetable change gave express services more shortcomings in the railway’s data capture than the ORR’s,” he says. school, which also displays art works. The nature of the Mid-Cheshire Line adds The other radial routes into Manchester have paths into Piccadilly, and the Mid-Cheshire processes rather than to those who analyse Mid-Cheshire Community Rail “Vandalism has disappeared,” says Oates. to the overcrowding problems - Manchester at least two, and often four or more, trains per was the loser, with a reduced service that was the data. Partnership Offi cer Sally Buttifant adds: “It Train operator Northern Rail, which and Stockport at one end, market towns hour, although most are overcrowded Pacers not offset by having additional carriages.