Direct rail services between North Wales and Manchester Airport to be retained

North Wales will retain its direct rail links with Manchester Airport under new rail route proposals, having called for this option since March.

It had been feared that North Wales could lose the service after three options were put forward by transport chiefs at the start of the year.

The Manchester Recovery Task Force (MRTF) opened a public consultation on the proposed changes which would have direct impacts on Transport for Wales (TfW) services between North Wales and Manchester.

• Option A: north Wales to Manchester services diverted to serve Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge stations, removing direct services between north Wales and Manchester Airport, and the removal of stops at Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations.
• Option B: retain the current north Wales to Manchester Airport/Manchester Piccadilly services.
• Option C: divert north Wales to Manchester services via the “Mid-Cheshire Line”. This would remove direct services between north Wales and Manchester Airport, with the service calling at the following stations east of Chester, Northwich, Knutsford, Altrincham and Manchester Piccadilly only.

In a submission to the Manchester Recovery Taskforce public consultation in March, Chair of the group Dr James Davies MP wrote, on behalf of the group, in support of its option B, which would retain direct access to Manchester airport from North Wales.

Delyn MP and Vice Chair of the Mersey Dee North Wales All-Party Parliamentary Group, Rob Roberts said:

“In an environment where there is so much going on and Members of Parliament spend so much of their time lobbying for changes to benefit our constituents, it is always fulfilling when we are listened to and the decision-makers get to the best outcomes.”

“The service that connects North Wales to Manchester Airport via Chester is an important piece of regional infrastructure that would have set us back had the other options been adopted that would have seen the route scrapped.”