A Cheshire MP has said he is pleased with the outcome of a recent meeting he held with senior rail bosses.
Andrew Cooper, Labour MP for Mid Cheshire, said representatives from Network Rail had promised to do everything they can to move forward the internal fit-out of Northwich Station’s ticket office.
To date, there has been slow progress on the restoration of the station platform following the collapse of a gable wall and part of a roof canopy in May 2021.
The incident left two passengers badly shaken after a combination of brick, glass and metalwork crashed down on the platform outside the ticket office.
A report by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) published earlier this year found the cause of the collapse to be a lack of vegetation control.
Mr Cooper said the government had since decided it would not bring any prosecutions in relation to the incident.
He added that Network Rail inspections had also found there may have been an error in the original construction of the station, with the gable end not tied into the roof as would be expected in this type of building.
Following the meeting, Mr Cooper said another outcome was that train operator Northern had agreed the station would staffed again to provide assistance to passengers on the platform.
Improvements will also be made to a portacabin welfare facility, he added.
“I thank Network Rail, the ORR and Northern for sending senior representatives to Northwich to listen to the concerns of the community about the speed with which repairs are being undertaken, and to take on board the lessons from the serious, shocking incident three years ago,” Mr Cooper said.
He added: “At the meeting, Network Rail advised that they are now looking at September 2025 as their fallback date for the fit-out of the ticket office after I previously expressed unhappiness at the speed with which this was taking.
“They are now intending to look at contracting someone who specialises in retail fit-outs should their framework agreement enable this, which would allow them to significantly bring forward the start date.”
Network Rail chiefs have promised an update on this within weeks, he said.
Other issues covered during the meeting included improving accessibility at the station and increased capacity on the Mid Cheshire Line to two trains per hour.
Mr Cooper said: “Poor transport links are the single biggest barrier to economic growth in Mid Cheshire, and I’m determined to address it.”
