A Stoke-on-Trent MP has said work could begin to re-open the Stoke to Leek railway line within the next 18 months.
Conservative Jonathan Gullis, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said that he was given the indication during a meeting with the Department for Transport (DfT) – but said he was sceptical about the timescale.
Daily Focus recently reported that the reinstatement of the line was among local transport improvement projects to be funded following the scrapping of Phase 2 of HS2, with council and business bosses calling on the Government for more information about the timescale and how it will be funded.
Speaking at a ‘Meet the MP’ event organised by Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce on Friday, he said: “It seems that within 12 to 18 months they want the full business case completed and work being ready to get underway, which is I think quite an astronomical pace.
“I will believe that when I see it. I would love the Government to be that efficient. If it gets there, I will applaud it from the rooftops.”
With a concern raised that the scheme could end up a “mini HS2” and be scrapped, Mr Gullis said: “This is not an election gimmick. This is not a map we have thrown together last minute. These are projects that we do firmly believe in. We are instructing Network Rail to deliver and we will go on from there.
“I do then think it is on the Labour Party to now make clear are they committed to those particular projects or if will they go back to Phase 2 of HS2.”
Mr Gullis told the meeting that he thinks the only way the line will be economically viable will be by using it for freight.
The project will be led by Network Rail and the first phase of work will be looking at where the line will go. Mr Gullis said plans are to use as much of the existing line as possible but only certain elements will be able to be refurbished.
Following concerns from residents – particularly in the Baddeley Green, and Norton area of his constituency – about where the platforms would go, he is pushing for community engagement in the first phase, despite it not being statutory.
Mr Gullis hopes the line will eventually be extended from Leek to Alton Towers.
He said he has another meeting scheduled with the DfT during which he will be asking more questions and calling for monthly meetings for progress updates.
He added: “I’m passionate that this is the right thing for our community, but I also want to make sure it’s economically and sensibly delivered.”
A number of transport improvement projects were on the agenda for the event held at the Chamber’s headquarters at Festival Park, in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Gullis said he had been assured by the Secretary of State that improvements to the A50/A500 corridor would be going ahead and that the Government is committed to proposed work at Junction 15 of the M6 but that “the reality of the cost of that is not as simple as the DfT originally thought.”
A new rail station at Etruria Valley was also discussed, as was the proposed bus gate on Basford Bank, business premises in Tunstall, the Local Skills Improvement Plan and the Chamber’s Responsible Business Accelerator programme.
Mr Gullis also told the Chamber members who attended that he is carrying out background work on sick pay reforms linked to the Safe Sick Pay campaign and will be meeting with the Chancellor about it this week.
He said: “The idea is that sick pay would come in from day one of sickness rather than where it currently is now. We’ve removed the lower earnings threshold entirely and increased the rate of statutory sick pay to the national living wage.
“We just want to make sure we can get a healthy workforce, which we think overall will bring a £4 billion benefit to the economy.”
My understanding is that the previous feasibility study was based on connection to HS2 and so the rationale has to be re-evaluated. The astronomical cost of opening this line would be uneconomic for freight traffic.