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Bus from Leek to Stoke ‘can take longer than train from Stoke to …

It can take longer to travel by bus from Leek[1] to Hanley[2] than from Stoke to London by train, according to a new report. Figures quoted in the 'Leek - Stoke strategic outline business case' show it can take 11 minutes longer to travel from Leek to Hanley by bus than to reach the capital by rail.

There are currently two half-hourly bus services between Leek and Hanley[3] - route 18, which is operated by First Bus and roughly follows the proposed rail route, and route 16, which is operated by D&G and runs between Leek and Hanley via Cheddleton and Wetley Rocks.

While some buses run faster than their advertised journey times, most do not. Analysis by transport consultancy Systra showed a wide variation in journey times throughout the day, with the longest bus on route 16 taking one hour and 35 minutes at peak time.

READ: Leek to Stoke train line will reopen after 66 years as HS2 scrapped[4] | The project is being funded by money which would've been spent on HS2

READ: Inside Stoke's £60m 'ray of hope' urban village as construction reaches highest point[5] | The milestone has been hit one year after work began

In contrast, a fast train from Stoke-on-Trent station to London Euston takes one hour and 24 minutes, 11 minutes faster than the 12-mile distance from Leek by public transport. In addition, no bus services run from Leek to Stoke station, instead terminating at Hanley bus station 1.3 miles away.

StokeOnTrentLive reported last month[6] that the Leek to Stoke line will reopen as part of a raft of local transport spending across the Midlands and the North in the wake of ditching the HS2 link between Birmingham and Manchester. The new line, which could be operational within a decade, would see the journey from Stoke to Leek reduced to around 25 minutes - and would connect the Staffordshire Moorlands with the wider rail network for onward travel.

The business case, which was submitted to the Department of Transport late last year, states: "Bus use across the Potteries is in decline - it reduced by 10 per cent in the year before the pandemic, with over one million fewer bus passenger journeys in 2018-19 than there had been in 2017-18. There has been a 38 per cent reduction in bus use over the last 10 years.

"The main reason, according to operators, is a lack of reliability and delays caused by road congestion as well as length of journey time and lack of interconnectivity between bus and rail. The continuing fall in fare income and inability to deliver a guaranteed journey timetable, has rather perversely led to bus operators running fewer services at peak times, as they struggle to deliver a service that the community can rely upon."

A group of people with a sign North Staffordshire MPs Jack Brereton, Jo Gideon, Jonathan Gullis and Karen Bradley, along with Staffordshire Moorlands District Council leader Sybil Ralphs, pictured at Stockton Brook

Passenger services between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek ended in 1956, with Leek's station closing completely in 1970. The site is now occupied by the town's Morrisons supermarket.

Freight services continued to use part of the line until 1988 and more than 6,200 people have signed an online petition calling for the line to be re-opened. The campaign was also backed by North Staffordshire MPs.

The strategic report continues: "Historically, rail played a prominent role in North Staffordshire’s connectivity, but over the last century, lines and stations have gradually been closed. North Staffordshire has not seen a single station reopening since the Beeching axe.

"While large cities and conurbations have seen stations reopen since Beeching, in Stoke-on-Trent local services have worsened. Etruria station was closed in 2005 and services at Wedgwood and Barlaston were suspended in 2004. This was the legacy of a city in decline."

NEWSLETTER: Sign up for email alerts from StokeonTrentLive direct to your inbox here[7]

References

  1. ^ Leek (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  2. ^ Hanley (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  3. ^ Hanley (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  4. ^ Leek to Stoke train line will reopen after 66 years as HS2 scrapped (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  5. ^ Inside Stoke's £60m 'ray of hope' urban village as construction reaches highest point (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  6. ^ StokeOnTrentLive reported last month (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
  7. ^ Sign up for email alerts from StokeonTrentLive direct to your inbox here (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)

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