Ah, yet more wish-lists from the regeneristas.
North to South:
I think the councillors, bless them all, have their Chatterleys crossed.
Chatterley Valley is an employment site, north of Longport, south of Kidsgrove. Essentially the area where the line curves away on its new alignment south of Harecastle Tunnel. Newcastle Borough have some ideas of building on the greenfield/belt land to the west of the line, despite its steep gradients. A hole for regeneration money to be poured into to create development plateau (plural).
Stoke Station - additional or replacement
A proposed replacement station for Stoke we discussed last year as part of the 'HS2 must come to Stoke' debacle. Its proposed location is in the vicinity of the Wolstanton junction on the A500.
A station has been put forward for Etruria Valley on a regular basis since Shelton Steelworks closed. Occasionally by the lead developer - St Modwen (but without them being willing to put their hands in their pockets), more often by the council. Sometimes it is a rail halt, leaving Stoke served by long-distance trains, sometimes it is a full blown main station with Stoke relegated to halt status. Another hole for regeneration money to be poured into.
A road proposal is being developed to build a road from this A500 junction, over the WCML and into the Etruria Valley development site. This new road would link with a second new road linking Etruria Valley (near Vodafone), northwards then over the Trent & Mersey Canal into Festival Park on the site of Greenhouse 2000 i.e. the top end. This second scheme may now have planning permission (an application has certainly been submitted).
Needless to say both schemes will require substantial public funding. Dread to think what the WCML bridge will cost! Another 2 holes to pour even more regeneration money into.
Britannia Stadium. When the 'football' stadium was proposed, a rail halt on the main line was tentatively suggested. It did not progress but clearly it remains on someone's fantasy list. I've never heard proposals for a station on the Stoke - Derby line but there was previously a station in Fenton - Station Bridge Road is the clue to its location. I cannot see any station for Britannia Stadium, regardless of location, being used by many local fans - they don't have origin stations to commence their journeys at for Britannia to be a destination station. Unlike certain teams in Manchester, Stoke City do not have a long distance fan base - unless you count the Swedes / Norwegians, in which case an airport would be more useful than a rail station!
Line to Leek. OK, that one actually exists, and was proposed for re-opening by Moorland and City Railway after the line from Leekbrook to Cauldon was re-opened. Trees from Leekbrook back to Endon were removed. After that all went very quiet. Leek Station has a Morrisons built on it and is a good walk, uphill to the town. More pies in more skies - available from Morrisons of course.
As an armchair crayonista, (as I think we're referred to by our 'betters' inside the industry), I feel some form of enhanced local service would be a good thing. Some form of frequent cross-city service from Blythe Bridge to Crewe, serving stations at Meir (rebuild), Longton (existing), Fenton (rebuild), Stoke, Etruria Valley (new), Longport, Kidsgrove, Alsager (all existing) and then 'HS2, not quite serving Crewe (new)" would be the backbone and serve a large proportion of the conurbation. A second branch could commence at Stone, serving Barlaston, Wedgwood, Trentham (rebuild), Britannia Stadium (new) then Stoke and on to Crewe. A third branch could commence at Leek, serving wherever inbetween. If each ran at 30 minute frequency that would give a 10 minute frequency Stoke to Crewe.
Clearly capital costs would be astronomical, revenue would not cover operational costs, and track capacity at junctions with, and along, the WCML section is simply not there. But, hey, it looks great on paper. I suspect this is the reasoning behind proposed quadrupling (the formation exists virtually throughout, with long freight loops already in place north from Stoke and north from Longport.
At Stoke, there used to be freight loops bypassing the station to the west - through the area recently turned into a car park, so there should be no physical problem with sticking a couple of platforms out there.
