20.10.17
Plans revealed for major Stoke station upgrade ahead of HS2
Plans for a major to upgrade Stoke station into a key central hub for the surrounding HS2 network in the West Midlands have been unveiled.
The project includes work to both the interior and exterior areas of the station set to take place over the next 25 years.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has announced the plans this week, with the intention of using new high-speed connections to drive growth and regeneration in the area.
Projections include building two new platforms at the Grade II listed station, adding a new north entrance and constructing a modern concourse.
Proposed residential and commercial buildings also form part of the project, with the main talking points being a new hotel and multi-story carpark.
In addition, there will be an upgrade to traffic in the area which will divert cars away from the station and the installation of a new bridge across the canal into the town centre.
The work is being referred to as a “masterplan” devised jointly by the council and Network Rail. It will also be partially funded by the Constellation Partnership, a group of councils and LEPs across the region.
“Stoke-on-Trent railway station has some fantastic buildings with real heritage and character,” said Cllr Daniel Jellyman, cabinet member for regeneration, transport and heritage at Stoke. “There is huge potential here to increase passenger numbers, improve on-station facilities and drive regeneration and development across the surrounding area.
“This is about us starting to look now at what is needed to make the station a key transport hub for the region that builds on the city’s own investment and is ready for the game-changer that will be HS2. A bigger, better station ready for the transport and associated demands we know the future will bring can act as a catalyst for the area, bringing with it economic benefits for the whole city.”
The masterplan is a “first step” towards securing funding, added Jellyman, since it highlights the region’s aspirations for the station and the city as a whole, as well as “sets a quality threshold and an outline development plan to stimulate and guide future investment.”
“There is a real opportunity here to not only transform the station but also some of the land surrounding it with commercial, leisure and residential developments, which will bring with them jobs and growth,” he concluded.
HS2 connections are expected to make Stoke a central location in the new rail network, with rapid links to Birmingham and Manchester, as well as journeys of less than an hour into London.
Duncan Sutherland, non-executive director on the board of HS2 Ltd, welcomed the development plans and said the area was “incredibly important to the UK.”
“It is right in the middle of our HS2 network between the north west and the Midlands and therefore has the ability to be a really big economic driver,” he continued. “There is no point in building a railway unless you get economic growth, and you need the mechanisms locally that can come together as partnerships to help drive that growth forward, which is about housing, education, and right across the board.
“Masterplans have to be about more than just the station. Economic growth won’t just come from the stations – the stations are the catalysts.
“Therefore, it’s about what happens around the stations that is going to be incredibly important. Masterplans have to cover a fairly wide area and show how development is going to happen. It’s really important that HS2 works with local authorities and that councils are driving it forward for their own communities.”
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