Concern over proposed train cuts

There are fears the Stockport service could be halved

A councillor is urging a train company to rethink proposals to reduce a commuter service in Greater Manchester.

CrossCountry is considering halving its Stockport service to one train an hour.

According to Councillor David White of Stockport Council, trains would still travel through the town's station but would just not stop there.

However this flouts an 1840 Act of Parliament which insists all trains using Stockport viaduct should stop at either Stockport or Edgeley station.

Mr White says CrossCountry needs to think about the impact cutting services to Stockport would have on local users.

Assessing results

"This is a local service used by local people," he said.

"We need to convince the company that the right thing to do is to maintain the current number of trains stopping at Stockport which is two an hour."

CrossCountry, which took over the contract from Virgin, is planning to announce its timetable changes some time next year.

David Ewart, communications manager for CrossCountry, said: "We recently concluded an extensive consultation process for our planned 2008 train timetable which comes into force next December.

"We are currently assessing the results of this consultation and will be discussing...whether any suggested alterations are deliverable.

"The proposed level of services fulfil the specifications prepared by the Department of Transport as part of their re-shaping of rail franchises."