WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols has accused the Government of more “broken promises,” after the Bill for the Crewe–Manchester extension of the HS2 network was submitted to Parliament, including the controversial Golborne link, which would have a devastating impact on Culcheth and surrounding area.
While the prospect of high-speed journeys adding extra capacity into the rail network took a “giant leap forward” the Warrington North MP, who represents the Culcheth area, accused the Government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of more “broken promises”.
The Bill sets out legislation for the next phase of Britain’s new high-speed, zero-carbon railway (known as the Phase 2b Western Leg), which will free up capacity on the congested West Coast Main Line and deliver significant connectivity, reliability and journey time benefits for passengers travelling between Scotland, the North, the Midlands and the South East.
The Bill, called the ‘High-Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill’, seeks powers to construct and operate the Phase 2b Western Leg.
On a more optimistic Warrington South MP Andy Carter, who represents nearby Lymm, which will also be severely impacted, says that while the Bill currently includes the Golborne Spur, the Union Connectivity Review published at the end of 2021 has set out a programme to review this route.
He says he has spoken with the Secretary of State and made it clear that it must be removed because there are better ways to connect HS2 to the west coast Mainline.
He says it will be possible to do this by making an amendment to the Bill, which he expects the Government to take once the connectivity review concludes its work.
What is clear is that if the Golbourn Spur/Link is still going to go ahead it will have a huge impact on Culcheth and the surrounding area.
Many residents are unhappy with the plan and still need to continue making their views clear.
In Culcheth and surrounding areas they will get all the pain without any of the gain with a huge impact on peoples’ lives.
Let us all keep our fingers crossed that the Golborne Link is removed. Personally, I still question the value of the entire project when you can already get directly to London from Warrington in under two hours!
