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HS2 call at Crewe!

The children of Crewe deserve the economic and cultural benefits that high speed rail connections will bring.

Stationary Change

6/17/2018

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"Please inform a member of staff if you see something that doesn't look right” urges the station tannoy. Well; there’s a bloke with a mullet, a woman reading the Sun, and a blue suit  with brown shoes. On Crewe station, with a valid ticket, anything goes.  it is a multi cultural centre; the gateway between ‘here’ and ‘anywhere’. 
Railway stations were designed as 'cathedrals of the new humanity at the centre where all converges’(Gautier). A temple for train-spotters, and asylum for the homeless, Crewe was the gravitational end point to wander at will until the ticket barriers were put in place,  and the numbers of homeless arriving at Crewe housing office halved. 
Most stations, enclosed within shopping malls, or detached from the communities they serve, are between places; pausing, lingering, spaces; like airport duty free lounges, but without the tax-break.  Budget wary travellers and train-spotters surreptitiously sip flasks and nibble foil wrapped baps, because this is an exclusive place to those who can afford to travel by train, and pay double for tea, leaving the indigenous townsfolk sat outside in interminable traffic jams.  
Once we have paid to enter the station, it rises above the vulgarity of brazen commerce, with few distracting advertising hoardings. This allows the visitor to enjoy some of the best architecture of Crewe; none of which was created by the six million pounds was thrown away in 2012 to transform the station into an 'iconic 21st century gateway' to showcase the best of Crewe and the North West. What we got was a mundane backdoor and another car park. What we liked was the Victorian drinking fountain 'for ye dogs'; the moss on the arches, the honest industrial roof that allows you to hear the rain, feel the wind; to you know that you are somewhere.  145 miles from London, and 20 years behind, it has none of Euston’s modern clutter of screens selling tropical beaches and rival cars.  For years, Euston’s spartan marble concourse was only dotted with contemplative passengers waiting for the clackety-clackety-clackety-clack of the mechanically turning destination boards that were the starting guns to the race to their platform. Now it is a thinly disguised shopping mall.  
Islanders of Crewe see the station as a privileged betrayal of town loyalty, the traitor's gate to 'elsewhere'. They forget that uniquely in Britain, the station begat the town, and it owes its child Crewe nothing. Rumours of a relocation sent the town into panic, but the stately, sedate, station parent remained unmoved, while the young town centre is abandoned. Crewe has lost the cultural history of the railways, but at the station punctuality, respect, and order still rule. On the road just outside, drivers abuse and push each other to filter into one lane, but once passed the ticket barrier, customs change: the queue to board a crowded train is politely choreographed.  
 
Until the barriers were installed, the platforms were witness to the grief of goodbyes and the happiness of hallos as friends, families and lovers met and left each other. Now it’s a rushed handover of bags with the car engine running on the double yellows outside. Sharing the space with strangers down on the platform does not make it less lonely, solitude can be magnified by the closeness of others, but at least in this private public space we are allowed to talk to each other on acceptable subjects; delays,  destinations and, if pushed, dress. 
Generally we don’t talk about ourselves, we handed in our identity for a ticket to hide. We are directed as a mass, there is no individuation. When there is a delay, we might complain as customers, but we secretly enjoy the passive submission of the passenger to the fates of the timetable. Only the mad or the middle class act as train criers, yelling their most intimate secrets and lies to invisible confessors on smartphones. "yes, I'm at the door of the office now". "Sorry I can't I'm in Sardinia". "No, he is not with me now". 
Any chatter stops for the two human announcers, Bradshaw's dub poets; a man eating cake and a woman singing stations in a Welsh whisper. One very early dark morning she had to announce a delay, and all the commuters gazed up at her tannoy with avuncular forgiving  smile. They cut Mr. Kipling no slack. 
Will there be room for these characters in the new High Speed 2 superhub?   Will it still be Crewe's station, or just another anonymous shopping mall? Decisions are being made now. If Crewe has lost the battle for its retail town centre, it has to decide now to fight for its soul; the railway station.  
 
 
 
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Change here for Crewe

12/29/2013

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There is a proposal to move Crewe station to the south, which would make it even more difficult to cycle or walk to for most Crewe residents.The 'dream' is to have a monorail to connect to the town. It would not be funded by HS2, and those who currently walk or cycle mostly do so because of cost and convenience, which they would lose paying and waiting for public transport.

Crewe has the biggest health, traffic and access to work problems in Cheshire. Moving the station further away from the town centre will make these worse for local people. We should be improving access to the current station site, creating high quality walking and cycle infrastructure, 20mph zones, and integrated bus links to improve lifestyle health, air quality and local traffic congestion.

Crewe residents have the lowest life expectancy in Cheshire East. We suffer from increasing lifestyle related illnesses and obesity, Crewe’s awful traffic congestion costs businesses time and money. Most residents work locally, and access to work is a significant problem. We have areas where air quality is close to breaking EU limits, mostly due to vehicle emissions. These would be made worse as people choose to switch to cars to travel the longer distance through town to the new station. 

Crewe faces real challenges in its regeneration so that it does not become a town of dreary, urban sprawl, with little ambition. A modernised, central station within easy walking/cycling distance and on well defined public transport routes should be part of this rejuvenation process.
Moving  the station entrance even a few hundred metres away from the town will make it more difficult to walk or cycle to. The entrance would be nearer to the £27m Weston link road and will have parking for business users from a wide area around Cheshire to access the London on the HS2 route.
There is talk of a monorail link with the town, but it has been made clear that there is no funding whatsoever for such a project, and HS2 will not fund linking systems. Manchester bridge, reported as disintegrating in 2005, is now covered in temporary bollards to reduce the risk of collapse caused by lorries mounting the pavement. There is not the money to repair this, so the likely-hood of funding for a monorail is extremely slight!
Neither would there be adequate public transport to this site; bus patterns are based on serving the town centre not a remote station. Nantwich services in particular would struggle to serve the station and the town centre, and the rail link would be lost along with the Cardiff/Crewe/Manchester service which could not access the new station site.

There will be great pressure to develop land further to the south of the proposed site leading to a further loss in identity for the town. The greatest ignominy would be if it were called 'South Cheshire Parkway'.
Joining  a green, off road walking and cycling corridor from the new station through the town to the existing greenway to the  hospital and Bentley, alongside  regular bus or trams, could make Crewe a quieter, healthier, safer friendlier place to live by  making active travel a practical option.

Given that a monorail would never be funded, we should creatively address traffic, health, lifestyle and image problems by making Crewe an active, attractive place to invest by the affordable solution of a town wide  20mph limit for residential streets. This is proven to increase walking and cycling and will not slow overall traffic flows, which are down to 10mph on key routes, including those to the station.

This is more effective than single roads or zones as the simple, common message is easier to maintain, and spine roads which remain at 30mph through the area will be seen as the exception.

Cllr Ian Davey, Transport Committee Chair for Brighton and Hove said 
“Residential 20 mph limits is the single most cost effective measure that a Local Authority can take to reduce road casualties, make streets more attractive for walking and cycling and improve the quality of life of residents. They offer excellent value for money particularly when compared with the high cost of new infrastructure.” 

12m people live in local authorities which are adopting this policy. ‘Total towns’ include many similar to Crewe, such as Bath, Warrington, Southwark, Chichester, Wigan, Bury, Bolton and Rochdale. 71% of respondents to a DFT survey favoured 20mph limits, which are now easier to legally implement.  Scrutiny (a.k.a Task & Finish/Best Value Review) in Greenwich, Brighton, Gloucester, Richmond-U-Thames, Haringey, Manchester, Darlington, Hartlepool and Warrington all rate 20 mph limits as a best value policy.
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New map to connect south east cheshire towns

8/9/2013

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SECCAG has produced an excellent map showing town routes and their interconnections. This would be particularly useful for folk arriving in the region by train to Crewe. 
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HS2 interview

1/28/2013

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I was  asked by Redshift Radio to interview 'a government spokesperson'. to my surprise it was Home Secretary Teresa May.
To hear this, and interviews with , Michael Jones, Cheshire East lead, John Lea, All Change for Crewe Director, Eward Timpson, MP, Dennis Dunn, pro-vice chancellor of MMU and Peter Waterman, , tune into Redshiftradio.co.uk and look for HS2 podcast on the business programme
Message in brief is:
  • its going to be great for Crewe
  • The next HS2 train is due to leave the platform in 2033
  • No one knows how many will stop in Crewe and how many will go underneath it, but we need to campaign intensively to get the best deal for the town.
Maps of the Crewe route can be found on the HS2 page on this website, or  at  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69055/hs2-msg-wcm-zz-dt-rt-60902.pdf
It seems that the tunnel will go underneath most of Crewe, at a depth of 35
metres.and northwards under the cemetry to emerge in fields beyond coppenhall at Parkers Row as below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69060/hs2-msg-mr0-zz-dr-rt-61002.pdf

The most interesting for local active travellers was local MP  Edward Timpson who showed he knows, and cares about active travel. on this 'outtake' recording you will hear him volunteering his support for Connect2 path and proper integrated transport links.You can hear the whole programme, featuring interviews with Pete Waterman, Dennis Dunn, [Pro vice chancellor of MMU] John Leas, [Mornflake and All Change For Crewe boss] Edward Timpson and Teresa May. Click on the redshift radio link 
www.redshiftradio.co.uk/hs2-coming-to-crewe

Try this link to hear the unedited version, Edwards reference to cycling comes at the end:
http://www.mixcloud.com/ben-wye/hs2-timpson-interview/

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What HS2 means to Crewe

1/28/2013

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from DFT  'command paper' released 0700 28 January 2013:
'HS2 would connect with the West Coast Main Line at Crewe, meaning key destinations like Liverpool, Runcorn and Crewe would benefit from direct services. The key rail interchange at Crewe would also be easily accessible for passengers in North Wales and elsewhere. Decisions on the precise services to use high speed rail lines and to maximise the benefits of capacity on other lines will be taken nearer the date when lines would open, so that we can be sure to take account of latest developments. We hope people will share with us their aspirations and ideas for how services could be designed to meet the needs of the country as a whole.p 11

Crewe would have a London journey time of 58 minutes and Liverpool of 1 hour 36 minutes. Towns across the wider North West would also gain quicker journeys from HS2, with direct HS2 trains able to run to Carlisle, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan, Warrington, Chester and Runcorn.
5.7 Liverpool, Wigan, Warrington, Preston, Chester and Crewe are all strong
centres of rail demand, in part through providing a convenient access
point to the mainline rail network for their surrounding area. Connections
at Crewe and further north near Wigan, would enable HS2 trains to run
seamlessly onto the existing network serving a range of destinations and
providing journey time savings of at least half an hour and up to an hour.
The Government is keen to explore how a connection at Crewe between
the existing rail network and HS2 could effectively serve the wider Cheshire
and Staffordshire areas, particularly Stoke-on-Trent, through good road and
public transport connectivity.
5.12 In addition to the new stations, the Government also supports creating two additional connections from this leg of the HS2 network onto the existing rail network. This could enable wider markets to access HS2 services. These are:
●● a connection to the West Coast Main Line, just to the south of the existing Crewe station to provide ready accessibility to HS2 from the Cheshire/North Staffordshire area; to enable HS2 trains to continue north from Crewe to serve Liverpool and intermediate markets, as well as the wider North West; and giving access for North Wales to HS2.
●● a connection onto the existing West Coast Main Line to the south of Wigan, near Golborne, to enable HS2 trains to continue northwards to serve Glasgow, Edinburgh and intermediate markets.
5.13 The western leg of the network would need to be supported by depots for maintaining the rolling stock and the infrastructure of the lines themselves. The Government’s initial preference is to build these new depots at Crewe (infrastructure maintenance) and Golborne, south of Wigan (rolling stock).
5.25 Given its strategic location on the rail network, the Government’s initial
preferred option is for a rail hub at Crewe that could be used to provide
frequent, fast services to Liverpool and other key destinations in the
North West.
5.26 Crewe represents a potentially advantageous location for HS2 to connect to
the existing network. This is further enhanced by its strong connections with
a range of important rail markets, which we expect to improve by working
with the region as we develop the proposals for HS2. High speed trains
would run seamlessly off HS2 onto the existing network at Crewe, offering
very competitive rail journey times to and from the Midlands and London. A
further wider range of stations would be accessible with a single change of
trains at Crewe.
The Actual route:  
Newcastle-Under-Lyme to Crewe

6.6 After crossing the A53 the route would enter a deep cutting leading to  section of tunnel about half mile long through the hillside and under  Whitmore Heath. It would emerge from the tunnel and head towards the West Coast Main Line, crossing it to the south of Madeley. It would run to the west of Madeley at a distance of approximately half a mile dropping into deep cutting and tunnel, further reducing impacts on the conservation area, and would head northwards towards Crewe parallel to and west of the West Coast Main Line for approximately five miles. Approaching Crewe, the route would be elevated as it continues to follow the West Coast Main Line. It would widen to form multiple tracks. Descending again, both the HS2 route and the West Coast Main Line pass under the A500 and enter Crewe. On entering Crewe, a junction from HS2 to the West Coast Main Line would allow HS2 trains to continue onto the existing network. This would also be the location of a link to an infrastructure maintenance depot, which is planned to the west of the route and the existing Basford Hall sidings. The HS2 route would descend into a cutting and then a two and a half mile tunnel which passes underneath Crewe and would emerge on the northern outskirts of the town, near Parkers Road avoiding demolitions in the Barrows Green area.
6.7 The Government’s initial preferred option for this route is based on work by HS2 Ltd that considered a wide variety of options through this area. A further short-listed option for the route from Newcastle-Under-Lyme was to head to Sandbach along the M6. However, the initial preferred route opens up the benefits of serving Crewe and the wider North West. In general, this route also performs better in sustainability terms.
Crewe to Golborne
6.8 Upon leaving Crewe the route would run immediately adjacent to the West Coast Main Line for 2.5 miles passing through open countryside at surface level. Heading north it would pass between Middlewich and Winsford onto a 745 metre long viaduct over the Trent and Mersey Canal and the River Dane floodplain. Bearing north east the route would run mainly on embankment passing approximately two miles to the east of Northwich before crossing the Altrincham to Chester railway line, the A556 and the A559. The route would then run in either shallow cutting or on the surface for just under two miles before rising onto embankment to cross the M6 to the north of Junction 19.

Crewe infrastructure maintenance depot (Western leg)
7.7 The Government’s initial preference for the depot would be located approximately half way along the route between the West Midlands and Manchester, south of the existing Crewe station and adjacent to the west side of Basford Hall sidings. It would provide links onto both directions of the short stretch of existing railway line that connects to the West Coast Main Line. The site is already identified for rail connected industrial development and a depot is therefore likely to be supported by local planning policy.


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Nantwich commute

1/27/2013

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A while ago there was a discussion on the radio about the longest commute in the land. There was someone who had to go from Nantwich to the City of London every day. I was struck by the comment he made that he slept on the train, and then drove to the gym on the way home. I would suggest, after doing a similar commute in the past, that he should try cycling to the station. There is a cycle path nearly all the way along the Crewe-Nantwich road at the moment, that takes less than half an hour without sweating in a suit [I know]. From March the new connect2 path will be ready, which is mostly off road through some tranquil and beautiful countryside. The perfect antidote to a stressful day in London. Either of these routes means that you also have done your hours exercise, and you can save your gym time and membership. You might even treat yourself to a pint on the way home to congratulate yourself on saving your health and your plan

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HS2 and a bike; the perfect partnership

1/27/2013

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What is the fastest way to get from Big Bill, the clock in Market Sq. Crewe, to Big Ben, Parliament Sq., London?

IF HS2, the high speed rail network stops at Crewe station, by cycling between the stations and the squares, you could leave Bill at 7, and hear Big Ben sound at 830. 

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    Author

    I used to travel to work all over the country, using a Brompton Fold up bike and the train. I saved lots of money and time, and there was never a destination more than half an hours gentle ride from the nearest station. 

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