Crewe: What will happen now HS2 is cancelled?

The town of Crewe owes its growth and development to the railway.

Locomotives were built there and its station is still a key transport hub, both for passenger and freight services.

It was set to be one of the big winners from the HS2 expansion to Manchester, being one of the major stations on the line.

Thousands of jobs and homes were expected from the regeneration the scheme would have brought. The local authority, Cheshire East Council, spent millions on preparation work for its arrival.

So what does it mean for organisations and businesses now the government has cancelled the leg from Birmingham to Manchester?

Nestled next to the West Coast Mainline, the Crewe Heritage Centre showcases engines and carriages from the town's history.

Many of its volunteers were employed at the town's engineering works or had spent their careers working on the railway.

There was an air of gloom at the news HS2 would not be coming to town.

Manager Michael Lenz said HS2 would have been a boost. "We would have been in prime spot for visitors to come and observe the trains," he said.

HS2 would have increased the county's income by up to £2bn in Crewe alone, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) claimed.

Chief executive Philip Cox said the project was not just about fast trains but increasing capacity.

"We've had really important plans for improving the station, that would've catalysed the regeneration of the wider area," he added.

"We have to ask the government what they can do to help, that investment they would've made into HS2 would've helped that regeneration happen."

Mark Bayley-Smyth works for Crewe-based chemicals manufacturer Qualkem.

"HS2 for us wasn't a train line," he said. "It was more an enabler for us to have confidence in making those right business decisions.

"I think that's the same for a lot of local small businesses. Businesses, including ours, need certainty."

Plans for the area from Cheshire East Council were all focused on the potential from HS2.

Leader Sam Corcoran said he wanted to stop land earmarked for the project being sold and wanted compensation for the town.

"Cheshire East Council spent £11m to prepare for HS2 coming to Crewe, to invest," he said.

The Department for Transport said its new "Network North" transport plan would improve travel across the region's cities and towns.

"A brand new £2.5bn fund will transform local transport in every part of the North of England outside the mayoral combined authority areas," a spokesperson added.

Back at the heritage centre the volunteers were resigned to waiting to see what would happen next.

"We'll just have to wait and see whether any of that money that was originally down for that will come and help develop stuff around here anyway," Mr Lenz said.

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