Crewe to Chester line stations

[Philip]

Is there a logical case to reopen some or all of the old stations on the Crewe to Chester line? I can understand why some of them were closed; some of them only serving hamlets, but others like Waverton, Tattenhall and Beeston Castle & Tarporley serve bigger centres of population (and in this case a visitor attraction). Would it be worthwhile to reopen some?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Waverton does serve the east side of Chester and is close to the A41 for access from the Wirral or further afield.
Tattenhall Road is nowhere near Tattenhall and is very isolated.
Beeston Castle could serve Tarporley (a well-heeled area) and the busy A51/A49.
Calveley is also on the A51.
My guess is one of these might work, maybe as a parkway, but no more.
I'm not sure the Cheshire councils are very interested (certainly if it involves money), and ICWC/WCP certainly won't be.
With W&B you have the Cardiff Bay mentality to cope with.
The record of recent parkway stations is not great (cf East Midlands Parkway).
Waverton and Calveley closed before Beeching (along with the Whitchurch branch), with Tattenhall Road and Beeston closed as part of Beeching.
Waverton hosts a private (not rail connected) oil distribution depot, although some of the original building still stands.
There are still partial platform structures at the others.

 

[daikilo]

Is there a logical case to reopen some or all of the old stations on the Crewe to Chester line? I can understand why some of them were closed; some of them only serving hamlets, but others like Waverton, Tattenhall and Beeston Castle & Tarporley serve bigger centres of population (and in this case a visitor attraction). Would it be worthwhile to reopen some?

Apart from Waverton, my guess is that the villages/sites are too far from the railway for most to actually walk. This is particularly true for Beeston Castle. As for Waverton, it is too close to Chester city and Chester General too far from the centre to make say even an hourly train attractive.

 

[gazthomas]

The record of recent parkway stations is not great (cf East Midlands Parkway).

I would say Warwick Parkway is a success.

That said, I can't see there being any need for intermediate stations.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Beeston Castle could serve Tarporley (a well-heeled area) and the busy A51/A49.

It's also within walking distance of the very popular Wild Boar Hotel.

 

[daodao]

Is there a logical case to reopen some or all of the old stations on the Crewe to Chester line? I can understand why some of them were closed; some of them only serving hamlets, but others like Waverton, Tattenhall and Beeston Castle & Tarporley serve bigger centres of population (and in this case a visitor attraction). Would it be worthwhile to reopen some?

No. The only place with a significant population close to this line is Tarporley, but the station is several miles from its centre and there is an adequate bus service (Arriva 84, hourly Mon-Sat daytime) to serve it.

 

[frodshamfella]

I would have thought Beeston could be 're opened , Tarporley has had quite a bit of housing added recently. I would have thought living in mid Cheshire it must be a right pain with traffic reaching Crewe or Chester.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Crewe Town station would probably be the only one that would achieve a reasonable passenger usage.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Unfortunately these things only get some traction pardon the pun when it gets in the Government sausage machine, Ceredigion CC have backed reopening Bow St and got the Welsh Government to fund it partly as vehicle to conduct road improvements to a junction of two A roads which will also happen to be access road for the station. Whether a station there has any real business case and will do the magic things the council claim remains unknown but there will definitely be the road improvements the council couldn't fund from elsewhere.....further along the Cambrian Mainline there's been strong reopening campaign from the people of the village of Carno which has been going 20 odd years however Powys CC are apathetic and its got nowhere.

 

[TheWalrus]

I would say Warwick Parkway is a success.

That said, I can't see there being any need for intermediate stations.

What about Tiverton Parkway that seems to be a success there’s 2 or 3 car parks there now and I think the main one was extended.

 

[catfordbags]

A bit off topic but a more preferable parkway station for Chester could be on the Wrexham line as close as possible to the business park.

That said, the A41 into Chester must be a nightmare for regular travellers as you approach teletubby roundabout so maybe Waverton might have possibilities.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A bit off topic but a more preferable parkway station for Chester could be on the Wrexham line as close as possible to the business park.
That said, the A49 into Chester must be a nightmare for regular travellers as you approach teletubby roundabout so maybe Waverton might have possibilities.

I think you mean the A41.
A parkway station on the Wrexham line (A483) would only be of use to those in the Wrexham direction, Waverton would capture all the other (road) directions.

 

[catfordbags]

IMO a parkway station by the business park could service the business park commuters albeit not very close, but could serve day trippers into town and long distance travellers to London etc. Obvs. Need trains and shed load of cash but you get the idea....

 

[snowball]

What about Tiverton Parkway that seems to be a success there’s 2 or 3 car parks there now and I think the main one was extended.

And of course there's another Tiverton near Tarporley, so even more relevant to this thread.

 

[absolutelymilk]

IMO a parkway station by the business park could service the business park commuters albeit not very close, but could serve day trippers into town and long distance travellers to London etc. Obvs. Need trains and shed load of cash but you get the idea....

It's a good idea, and would benefit from the new development on Wrexham Road, but to serve the business park it would need a new through road as otherwise connecting buses would need to go all the way round to the Wrexham A483/A55 roundabout.

 

[HowardGWR]

It's a good idea, and would benefit from the new development on Wrexham Road, but to serve the business park it would need a new through road as otherwise connecting buses would need to go all the way round to the Wrexham A483/A55 roundabout.

Gosh, that place is totally car-orientated isn't it. A planning disaster zone. Chester station is not 'handy' is it, unless there are free shuttle buses to the centre? New Crane St looks like a good place for a station.

 

[Holly]

There is certainly an unmet need for a parkway station in Cheshire. But as well as plenty of room for a B-I-G car park it needs good, uncongested, road access. I don't think anywhere between Crewe and Chester meets those requirements.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is certainly an unmet need for a parkway station in Cheshire. But as well as plenty of room for a B-I-G car park it needs good, uncongested, road access. I don't think anywhere between Crewe and Chester meets those requirements.

Assuming you mean one to go to London and Manchester primarily, it would need to be on the rump WCML. Probably a resurrection of Basford Hall or something.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Gosh, that place is totally car-orientated isn't it. A planning disaster zone. Chester station is not 'handy' is it, unless there are free shuttle buses to the centre? New Crane St looks like a good place for a station.

There are (from the large businesses like M&S Money), early/late and at lunchtime.
The Arriva 1 (Wrexham-Chester) goes round the park every 10 minutes or so, and there one bus an hour towards Mold.
But the railway is too far away. Nobody would use it, and it only serves the Wrexham direction.
As far as I can see most of the business park workers are high-flying financial types driving fast cars, not remotely interested in commuting by rail...

 

[Old Yard Dog]

This proposal sounds like opening stations just for the sake of it. Why spoil a fast 18 min journey by having trains stop in the middle of nowhere? Long-distance passengers hate intermediate stops.

 

[frodshamfella]

Assuming you mean one to go to London and Manchester primarily, it would need to be on the rump WCML. Probably a resurrection of Basford Hall or something.

There was talk a few years ago when a competitor company was going to run a service between Blackpool and London to stop and expand Winsford as a parkway station. The service didn't start in the end, I expect virgin objected.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This proposal sounds like opening stations just for the sake of it. Why spoil a fast 18 min journey by having trains stop in the middle of nowhere? Long-distance passengers hate intermediate stops.

What they like even more is running non stop through stations

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There was talk a few years ago when a competitor company was going to run a service between Blackpool and London to stop and expand Winsford as a parkway station. The service didn't start in the end, I expect virgin objected.

Quite wrong. Alliance were given off-peak paths from 2018 (after electrification to Blackpool) but haven't sourced any rolling stock yet.
Having promised new Pendolinos, the notional current plan is to use IC225s when they are released by VTEC, but that won't be until 2020 earliest.
Virgin haven't been able to object to open access proposals since 2012, but they have put up plans to run more off-peak Blackpool-Euston services after electrification.

 

[frodshamfella]

Quite wrong. Alliance were given off-peak paths from 2018 (after electrification to Blackpool) but haven't sourced any rolling stock yet.
Having promised new Pendolinos, the notional current plan is to use IC225s when they are released by VTEC, but that won't be until 2020 earliest.
Virgin haven't been able to object to open access proposals since 2012, but they have put up plans to run more off-peak Blackpool-Euston services after electrification.

But there was plans to expand Winsford from what I remember. This was some time ago when I read it, heard nothing of late, and from what your saying it still sounds a long time off. If it happened it might prove attractive for mid Cheshire passengers reaching London, but wouldn't help getting into Chester.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This proposal sounds like opening stations just for the sake of it. Why spoil a fast 18 min journey by having trains stop in the middle of nowhere? Long-distance passengers hate intermediate stops.

Indeed so, another example being all the closed stations between Preston and Lancaster on the WCML in order that fast non-stop running on that line section could be achieved. Mind you, this website sees threads that discuss a station serving Lancaster University that crop up like the proverbial bad penny every year without fail.

 

[Holly]

But there was plans to expand Winsford from what I remember. This was some time ago when I read it, heard nothing of late, and from what your saying it still sounds a long time off. If it happened it might prove attractive for mid Cheshire passengers reaching London, but wouldn't help getting into Chester.

There is definitely a need for a station with a very big car park and good road connections in Cheshire for long distance travellers. Winsford is perhaps the only station that has space for expansion. Quad tracking through the upgraded Winsford station as well as increasing the car parking would provide the means to obtain enough extra paths.
But that would probably mean moving the station a short distance, so you might as well build a totally new station somewhere else in Cheshire and be done.