IN PICTURES and VIDEO: Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin zooms in for grand opening of £250m Staffordshire rail line
The transport secretary has hailed a new £250million rail improvement scheme to speed up journeys through Stafford as 'a major engineering achievement' which has served as a 'test case' for the controversial HS2 line.
Trains passed along the new line at Norton Bridge for the first time yesterday morning, bringing to an end a four-year development that has seen more than one million tons of land dispersed, 11 bridges built and six miles of track laid.
The scheme, which is part of Network Rail's £40 billion Railway Upgrade Plan, was initiated in a bid to ease a major bottleneck on one of the busiest sections of the West Coast mainline.
It includes a new rail-over-rail flyover, which means trains to Manchester, via Stoke-on-Trent, will now travel over the existing lines rather than having to slow down and criss-cross the tracks. The grand opening was attended by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin. He said: "We are investing over £40bn in our railways in this Parliament, which is the biggest upgrade since Victorian times.
"Not only is this project in Norton Bridge a major engineering achievement, it will also allow trains to travel faster through this area and bring more reliable services to one of the busiest rail routes in Europe, creating better journeys for those travelling across the Stafford region."
The work was competed 18 months early by the Staffordshire Alliance, a partnership between Atkins, Laing O'Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail. Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy, said: "We have removed one of the last major bottlenecks on the route which will improve the reliability of the railway and speed of trains though the area.
"It will also help run more freight and passenger services through the area and on the entire West Coast main line in future."
The work means new timetables can now be introduced over the next two years, bringing in two extra trains per hour travelling between London and the north west, and one extra train per hour running between Manchester and Birmingham.
Meanwhile, an additional freight train per hour will travel in each direction through Stafford.
Patrick McLoughlin also said the project demonstrated how transport companies could work together with communities in advance of work starting on the £55bn HS2 project next year.
Last week MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of building the high speed rail line, which will plough through around 45 miles of Staffordshire countryside and is set to completed by 2027.
The scheme has met with mass opposition from more than 200 local communities along the line's path, with anti-HS2 campaigners saying they will be left to live on a decade-long construction site.
Describing HS2 as 'something that just had to happen', Mr McLoughlin said: "I am the first to accept that when you do any big, major infrastructure project you can't do it without facing problems with local communities.
"But what has happened here (in Norton Bridge) has been a test case for the way in which contractors have come together to deliver this particular project. They have worked with local residents and have taken them through what happens.
"If we are going to have the connectivity between our main cities we desperately need to have to ensure those cities have the opportunity of attracting investment, allowing people to travel and giving more local services."
The first stage of the HS2 project between London and Handsacre will go to the Lords to ratify before being rubber stamped later this year. A bill for the second stage up to Crewe is currently being prepared.
Mr McLoughlin has vowed that the Government will work closely with residents following a damning report that found there to be serious problems with the way that HS2 Ltd communicates with those affected by the plans, and the way the firm handles complaints.
