Investment in Crewe in limbo after HS2 cancellation

THE recent signalling upgrade at Crewe, which has seen digital signalling move from Basford Hall to the new Rail Operating Centre in Manchester, has cast extra significance on what happens next for the famous railway town and the wider region.

The resignalling forms part of the wider Crewe Hub programme, and Network Rail completed two years of work upgrading the signalling and drainage at the junction, as well as installing new cabling and LED signals, when it switched off the Basford Hall signal box over Christmas.

It was a moment which Network Rail heralded as a “brand new era”, with Freightliner also highlighting the importance of the scheme.

“Basford Hall is one of our big hub locations - it’s the point where we join freight trains which are going on to London, and where we split trains which are going up to the north of the country,” said Freightliner Safety and Sustainability Director Louise Ward.

“The resignalling is all about making the railway as efficient and resilient as it can possibly be. This major investment will make sure that freight and people get to where they need to be.”

Similar comments were voiced by West Coast Main Line operator Avanti, with the £170 million investment warmly received.

However, the Crewe Hub programme was supposed to be part of something much bigger, when HS2 came rolling into town.

As a key part of the initial HS2 Phase 2, the Crewe Hub plans initially included a new station near the current location that would significantly enhance capacity, with new platforms, a business centre, and a brand new ticketing hall and concourse. It was also going to unlock wider investment by Cheshire East Council.

Phase 2 was then cancelled. And it has left many in the area concerned that the area has been forgotten.

“As far as I understand it, Crewe railway station has been in dire need of rejuvenation since 2009 and was identified as such,” Crewe and Nantwich MP Connor Naismith told RAIL.

“It was to have been delivered as part of HS2, but we have not had that. What we need now is a level of certainty for long-term investment, but also for shorter- term solutions to the very clear issues seen at Crewe.”

Andrew Cooper, MP for Mid-Cheshire agrees: “I’ve spoken to plenty of people who have arrived at Crewe station and looked around at the rain coming through the station roof, and thought: ‘why have you brought me here’? It is not an attractive proposition for business.”

The HS2 cancellation has also had a knock-on effect for the surrounding area - including the continued fight to add two trains per hour between Northwich and Manchester Piccadilly.

This campaign began in 2019, with Northern expected to begin running services then. But for several reasons, including capacity and infrastructure concerns, that has not happened.

“If HS2 had been built, then I think it would have happened,” said Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association Chair Mike Battman.

“We’ve had obstacles such as unmanned crossings, and Network Rail has been concerned about capacity between Stockport and Piccadilly. But they’ve been overcome, so really it’s a case now of whether Network Rail and Northern want to do it.”

Northern told RAIL that there were no current plans to increase to 2tph.

Cooper said that investment and increasing capacity requires much better planning: “A lot depends on a proper pipeline of projects in place. I would argue that if we

wanted to do things such as reopen the Middlewich branch line between Northwich and Crewe [part of Restoring Your Railway, but cancelled by the new government], you need that extra capacity at Crewe station to be able to provide those services.”

A little further west of Crewe, the campaign to electrify the section of the North Wales line between Chester and Crewe is continuing.

Initially, the campaign hinged on HS2 tracks running through Crewe, with regional leaders arguing that electrifying the line would allow Chester to feel the benefits of HS2.

Aphra Brandreth, MP for Chester South and Eddisbury, told RAIL that unlocking investment starts with Crewe.

“The station is in urgent need of upgrades, and the cancellation of Phase 2 of HS2 unlocks the cash to improve existing infrastructure, such as electrifying the track between Crewe and Chester,” she said.

“Investing in Crewe station would also have a positive knock-on effect for smaller local stations, and could provide the much-needed momentum to finally reopen Beeston Castle and Tarporley stations.”

Network Rail and the Department for Transport have remained tight-lipped on plans for Crewe since the cancellation of HS2, although NR had previously acknowledged that improvements on platform capacity were needed to ensure modern rolling stock could be accommodated.

Both Cooper and Naismith agree that some form of extra capacity will be needed between Birmingham and Manchester. This could include the HS2 Lite proposal, which (as things stand) the DfT said it has “no current plans” to pursue.

“The government recognises it needs to invest in transport infrastructure to grow. All I can do is keep banging the drum,” said Naismith.