Congleton Town Council meets Northern Trains over Sunday rail services

As part of its ongoing efforts to restore a reliable Sunday rail service for Congleton, the Town Council met with representatives from Northern Trains last week.

Congleton’s Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr Suzy Firkin and Cllr Kay Wesley, together with representatives from the office of Sarah Russell MP and local rail campaigner Richard Eadie, received an update from Northern Trains on the status of discussions with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). These discussions are aimed at enabling the resumption of Sunday train services, replacing the current and often unreliable rail replacement bus service.

While Northern Trains has not yet received formal feedback from RMT, they remain optimistic that its proposal will be received favourably. If an agreement is reached, the restoration of formally scheduled Sunday services at Congleton will be among the priorities.

The meeting also discussed other factors affecting the provision of a comprehensive seven-day rail service for the town. These included the potential for CrossCountry trains to resume stopping at Congleton, as they have done previously, and the limited availability of late evening Saturday services due to Network Rail maintenance access requirements.

Sarah Russell MP has also recently met with the Secretary of State for Transport to raise many of these issues. A representative from her parliamentary office attended the meeting with Northern Trains to help ensure a coordinated approach.

Congleton Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr Suzy Firkin said:

“We recognise that there is no single solution to resolve all of these issues. However, by maintaining an open channel of communication with Northern Trains and CrossCountry, we can ensure that Congleton residents have a voice and that we begin to understand how barriers to improved services can be removed, helping to influence the future rail strategy for our town.”

The ticket office at Congleton Station is currently closed while maintenance work is carried out to repair a leaking roof. Northern Trains has confirmed that this closure is temporary.

Pictured - CTC & Northern Rail Meeting on 5th of March 2026.