'Stafford has lots of potential' - MP hosts meeting to discuss town railway station’s future role
Stafford’s MP has held a meeting with rail leaders at the town’s railway station to consider its role in boosting the area.
Leigh Ingham has described Stafford as the best connected town in the country – and would like to see further improvements made to the railway station such as easier access from the western side to make it even better.
She invited representatives from Midlands Connect and rail operator Avanti West Coast to attend a meeting at the station, where they considered current and future role the transport hub can play in supporting housing and jobs in the town. Earlier this year work took place to improve the approach and entrance to the station, including increasing disabled parking close by, relocating a public short-stay car park, refurbishing the concourse and road resurfacing.
In the longer term Stafford Borough Council is leading a project to transform previously-developed land around the station into new housing, business and leisure space. The Government awarded £20m from the Levelling Up Fund towards work to bring the Stafford Station Gateway scheme to light and it also involves Staffordshire County Council and Network Rail.
Speaking after the meeting, Ms Ingham said: “When I was first elected, one of the things I noticed was Stafford has lots of potential. It’s the best connected in the country.
“What today was about was getting people in the same room to make things happen a bit quicker. It’s about making use of my position as an MP to bring people together.
“I would like to see station access from the side of town where the Royal Mail depot is, as this side of town is going to go through development and we also have the new Institute of Technology opening. It would make accessibility so much better if students could walk over and it would make it easier for people to get into the town centre.
“I think (the station approach improvements) look really good. We already had an amazing park at the front and making it really accessible for people is key,”
Midlands Connect has been collaborating with Avanti West Coast to research ways of attracting more people to use the railway and boosting local economic growth through station investment. The station is currently served by three operators – Avanti West Coast, Cross Country and London Northwestern, providing direct connections to London, Manchester. Birmingham and Liverpool.
Maria Machancoses, CEO of Midlands Connect, said: “We have been here to hear an update on the thinking around the gateway proposals and to make sure the conversation around the redevelopment and regeneration links up with the wider debate on where Stafford and the railway station sits in improving connectivity regionally and nationally. There are a lot of conversations around the future of the railway, the future of HS2 and what is going to happen to the West Coast Main Line.
“It’s really important all the stakeholders support the council and the MP, understand what the big issues are, and make sure Stafford has a hand in that conversation. The gateway is hugely important if we are creating more housing, more jobs and regenerating the area around the transport network.
“We’re providing data, evidence and understanding of where people are coming from and where they are going to. We did some analysis on whether they are travelling from Stafford, coming from Birmingham or whether it is local journeys from Stoke-on-Trent and our role is to make sure that the connectivity can happen.”
