It's not too late to submit your views about possible changes to rail services - the consultation closes at 11:59pm on 10th March 2021.

The Parish Council has submitted the following response to the consultation:

Question 1: Do you support the aim of standardising and simplifying service patterns if this will significantly improve overall train performance?

No. There is a clear need to reduce the number of services running through the Castlefield corridor but widespread adoption of standardised half hourly service patterns across all routes will cause unnecessary disturbance to established travel patterns and inconvenience far too many rail users.

Question 2: Do you support the approach of measuring the service level and performance impacts across all passengers to allow fair trade-offs between options?

Yes, in principle, but a far more sophisticated algorithm needs to be used which gives increased weight to disruptive changes such as, for instance, passengers on the Crewe-Manchester line needing to change trains to reach Stockport from local stations south of Alderley Edge.

Question 3: On the basis of these results, which is your preferred option?

Representing Chelford residents, it is imperative that Stockport should be served as now by a direct train service. Only Option A provides this, although a better solution might be a variant of Option C with one of the Alderley Edge terminating services from Manchester Piccadilly via Stockport continuing as an all stations stopping service to Crewe and back and instead one of the services from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe via the Airport being turned round at Alderley Edge.

Question 4: Please provide your views on the details of the proposed changes which are detailed by route in the Appendix.

Comments on South Manchester Local Services:
The higher intervention options B and C will not only increase the journey time between Chelford and Manchester by most likely 10- 20 minutes, making rail less attractive as the mode of transport for commuters, but also result in the loss of through train services between Chelford and Stockport. The task force needs to be aware that Stockport is arguably as significant an evening and weekend leisure venue from stations on the Crewe-Manchester line as Manchester, and that for many travellers rail is the preferred mode of transport. There are also daily commuters who work in Stockport and journey planners show Stockport as the natural and most convenient rail interchange station for long distance Cross Country services to Birmingham and the south of England, for express services across to Sheffield, and for local journeys to stations on the Buxton and Mid-Cheshire lines. Having to change train at either Alderley Edge or Wilmslow in order to reach Stockport by rail is not acceptable to Chelford Parish Council.

If there is to be a major timetable recast of services on the Crewe-Manchester line then a variant of Option C might be considered with one of the Alderley Edge terminating services from Manchester Piccadilly via Stockport continuing as an all stations stopping service to Crewe and back and instead one of the services from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe via the Airport turning round at Alderley Edge.

Interestingly in Option C, mention is made of the Crewe-Manchester services via Manchester Airport being ‘even interval services calling at all stations’. If taken at face value this might mean two trains per hour in each direction from Chelford rather than the current one. There is however a question about the practicalities of this as Network Rail’s ‘Rules of Plan’ for train operation on the line apparently preclude the current local Northern service from Crewe via the Airport route from making station calls at Goostrey and Chelford (the train path being constrained by following the Avanti Euston-Manchester service down from Crewe and needing to get on to the Styal line at Wilmslow clear of the northbound South Wales-Manchester via Stockport service behind it).