MP calls for West Coast Main Line improvements

An MP has called on the government to make improvements to the West Coast Main Line to "show people across the North West that this government care about their future".

Connor Naismith, the Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich, spoke about issues on the line during a Westminster Hall debate and called for remodelling of Crewe Station.

He also called for the government to "look carefully" at alternative proposals to HS2 put forward by the mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

Transport minister Lillian Greenwood said the government was "continuing to review options for enhancing rail connectivity in the Midlands and North".

She added that more detail would be provided in the coming months.

Naismith told a debate that the West Coast Main Line faced "critical problems" and said the issues were experienced by many attending the debate and their constituents.

MPs from across the political spectrum also spoke about issues they and their constituents had using the line including Labour's Jo Platt, Conservative Aphra Brandreth and Liberal Democrat Tim Farron.

Naismith also spoke about capacity and said improvements would mean less congestion on the area's motorways.

"I again press the government to look carefully at the proposals developed by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, and Arup and other stakeholders, namely the Midlands-North West rail link," he said.

He also called for upgrades to Crewe Station, saying it had seen "little investment since the 1980s".

"Failure to do anything is simply not an option, so I politely ask the minister, what will the government do to flesh out the options that they are considering?" he said.

"Let us improve the main line, let us rebuild Crewe station, and let us show people across the North West that this government care about their future."

In response, Greenwood said the government knew there were "real and very understandable concerns" about capacity between Manchester and Birmingham following the cancellation of phase two of HS2.

"I also understand the frustration - and, frankly, the anger - that this decision created for leaders and communities across the Midlands and the North," she said.

She said she set out to the House of Commons in January that the government would not reverse that cancellation.

"I also noted that we were, and are, continuing to review options for enhancing rail connectivity in the Midlands and the North. That work continues and is now supported by the clarity that the spending review has provided," she said.

She said she was unable to provide more detail at this stage but said the government "hope to say more in the coming months, including on the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail", which is a planned link between Manchester and Liverpool.

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