Continuing delays threaten train station project
Urgent action is needed to safeguard funding for Kidsgrove train station, as the Borough Council leader calls again for the local MP to act.
The threat of subsidence caused by decades of coal-mining is delaying plans to improve the train station, build a transport interchange and parking for 200 cars.
Network Rail won’t allow Kidsgrove Town Deal to commission exploratory work to discover the extent of the subsidence unless it has a fully-funded restoration plan in place.
But the Town Deal Board doesn’t know until it begins the work how much a restoration programme would cost – and only has a fixed budget to work with.
Funding for Kidsgrove train station’s upgrade was specifically referenced in paragraph 62 of Network North’s October 2023 announcement that £284.9 million of extra Local Transport Fund money was available between 2025 and 2032, as a result of the cancellation of the Birmingham-to-Crewe part of the HS2 rail line.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and a member of the Kidsgrove Town Deal Board, said:
This is a Catch-22 situation and if it is not resolved quickly, we will lose all the money earmarked for improving Kidsgrove train station.
Funding appeared to be in place for the project, but we have heard nothing since the new Government took over in July 2024.
In November I wrote to Kidsgrove MP David Williams asking him to ensure funding was still in place and to work with the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to help us deliver this important project but to date I have received no reply.
This delay is frustrating because not only do we risk losing funding for a much-needed project, but Town Deal money has been used successfully elsewhere in Kidsgrove.
Chatterley Valley West has moved from an unusable post-industrial site to a business park which will house hundreds of new and safeguarded jobs, and we’re boosting tourism by improving the link between the canal and the town centre.
Funding has also helped reopen the leisure centre, create a Pump Track in Newchapel and the provide new artificial sports pitches at the King’s Academy.
The train station upgrade is an important part of Kidsgrove’s regeneration and we need a resolution.”
Cllr Tagg has written again to Mr Williams asking for an update and invited him to meet in the hope of speeding up resolution.
Read the letters here
Notes to Editors
The Department for Transport Network North document referred to in the fifth paragraph can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/network-north