12.03.18
Government finalises plans for HS2 Crewe Hub
The government has clarified plans for a new Crewe Hub that will give more people access to HS2.
Included in the plans are a high speed rail service to Stoke-on-Trent and a redesigned junction at Crewe.
Transport secretary, Chris Grayling, last week confirmed the government’s support for the Crewe Hub vision, which means that plans for HS2 Phase 2a from the West Midlands to Crewe will be modified.
The plans include an extension of platform five at Crewe to 400 metres, which will allow for the splitting and joining of HS2 services, and open opportunities to service Stoke-on-Trent with HS2.
The proposed platform on the Manchester independent lines will have a more efficient design, and will incorporate a transfer deck to the main station, and there will be a change to the design of the southern connection from HS2, so that HS2 joins and takes over the central two lines on the existing network.
Grayling also intends to ask the franchise operator, West Coast Partnership, to include a high speed service to Stoke-on-Trent in its market development and service plans.
He explained that having listened to people’s views on the Crewe Hub consultation, the town’s history as an “epicentre of rail journeys” is set to continue.
“HS2 will be the backbone of our national rail network, increasing capacity on our congested rail network with thousands more seats on commuter services, improving vital connections between some of our country’s biggest cities and generating jobs, skills and economic growth,” he said.
The plans build on the government’s earlier decision to bring the benefits of HS2 to Crewe from 2027, as well as extending the benefits of a high speed service to Stoke-on-Trent, he added.
The Department for Transport said that the extension of HS2 to Crewe is a “vital step” in achieving the government’s ambition of building a country that works for everyone, and that a commitment to the Crewe consultation will unlock “significant benefits” brought to Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent by HS2.
Combined with a HS2 junction north of Crewe, this could allow five to seven trains an hour to call at Crewe, improving the connectivity to the lines from Crewe to Shrewsbury, Chester and Stoke-on-Trent.
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