Disintegrated train travel for Congleton

Passengers have just successfully reversed a decision by Arriva Trains to delete the 7.09 Congleton-Manchester service (apparently it was Virgin's decision to drop it) - now the next challenge is to persuade the government to insist that Cross Country trains continue to call at Congleton and Macclesfield, rather than increase the carbon footprint of travellers who will be forced into cars.

Apparently from Dec 2008, the Dept for Transport has decided these trains won't be necessary at Congleton. (The proposed hourly stopping train Stoke-Manchester won't help people needing to travel to Birmingham in an hour, as is possible now, or Stockport and Manchester in 20-40 minutes.)

The withdrawal of Cross Country services is a further erosion of choice for us in Congleton, and even if you don't need these trains daily for commuting, they are extremely useful for quick journeys or connections for business, shopping or hospital trips. It doesn't help that there are numerous invisible passengers - those who are able to dodge fares due to lack of ticket checks on trains and at some stations, including Manchester.

There's a specific petition regarding southbound trains on this link below - sign up before 29th Nov to make your voice heard. Protest can and does make a difference:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/congletontrains

You could also let these people know your views about their proposed further downgrading of our train service:
Ruth Kelly, Dept of Transport - kellyr@parliament.uk
Tom Harris, Rail Minister - tomharrismp@parliament.uk
Anne Winterton, local MP - awinterton@riverside14.fsnet.co.uk
Dorothy Littler, Anne Winterton's secretary - littlerd@parliament.uk
Arriva Trains - gordonf@arrivatrains.co.uk

Oh, and you could join East Cheshire Line Railway Users' Group (ECLRUG) - details on local train timetables.

Let's make a difference - if it's only to keep things the same!