Group Leaders Statement to the Secretary of State for Transport

Our Group Leaders have written to the Secretary of State for Transport to share our shock and dissatisfaction about the reduction in service from Avanti West Coast between London and Manchester, including Stockport.

Dear Secretary of State,

Following the announcement by Avanti West Coast that they will be reducing rail services between Manchester and London Euston, we would like to share our disappointment at the decision.

The plan to run just four trains an hour from London – and only one to Stockport came with no consultation or notice to ourselves. The information provided by Avanti West Coast also includes no details on when the timetable will return to normal.

Our residents and businesses have benefitted from the critical connectivity on this line for nearly two hundred years. The changes to the timetable will severely impact the ability to travel the country by train for business and pleasure – one train an hour between the North West and the capital is not enough. It’s simply unacceptable.

Stockport is on the up, and we are investing millions of pounds into our local economy on the back of a crippling two-year pandemic. But this announcement by Avanti West Coast will set us back as Stockport relies heavily on the West Coast Mainline.

Collectively, we urge you to act immediately so that this unacceptable decision by Avanti West Coast is reverted and the services they have mothballed are reinstated immediately.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council
Cllr Elise Wilson, Leader of the Labour Group
Cllr Mike Hurleston, Leader of the Conservative Group
Cllr Anna Charles-Jones, Leader of the Independent Ratepayers
Cllr Gary Lawson, Leader of the Green party