Weaver Vale MP calls for major investment in Northwich Railway Station

Northwich MP Mike Amesbury is calling for major investment in local railways following a serious roof collapse at the town’s main station.

He fears a Government move to place national rail infrastructure under one body won’t address the fundamental lack of investment across the network.

Tuesday’s shocking incident saw part of the roof and a wall fall onto the platform and railway line at Northwich’s Victorian main station. Miraculously, nobody was killed.

An investigation must determine the cause but Mr Amesbury - along with Northwich Town Council and Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association – is a long-time campaigner for Government cash to modernise the facility.

He said: “We must await the outcome of the official investigation but this is a Victorian station desperately in need of investment. That is something I and others have lobbied for in the past and I do so again today.

“The Government has just announced rail infrastructure in England is to come under a single body called Great British Railways in a tacit admission Tory privatisation has failed. It’s disappointing the new measures almost reassert the status quo, with private companies still running most train services.

“Time will tell whether railways get the investment that is needed or if this smoke and mirrors yet again. I fear this is 11 years of failure with more to come down the line.”

The station reopened on Thursday morning, involving temporary customer arrangements, after work to ensure the rest of the station is safe. 

The Weaver Vale Labour MP added: “Over the longer term there is a need to work with all relevant parties to rebuild and modernise the station. I will be pushing for the investment needed to ensure it is fully accessible and fit for the 21st century.

“For example, for years I have been campaigning to improve accessibility at Northwich Station. If you are disabled or have mobility issues, you can only travel in the Manchester direction because the other platform is solely accessible by steps and a footbridge. That is not acceptable in this day and age.”

Mr Amesbury is also frustrated the promised two trains an hour on the Mid Cheshire line has still not materialised. And he previously raised concerns about overcrowding of school children at nearby Greenbank Station due to lack of carriages.

Mr Amesbury has now written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in a plea for extra funding given this week’s incident ‘could so easily have ended in tragedy’.

He concluded: “Safe, reliable and affordable public transport is so crucial to the needs of the nation, especially as we move toward a carbon neutral economy. The Government must invest in our crumbling infrastructure, including here in the North of England. Otherwise its so-called levelling up agenda is nothing but hot air.”