As you will no doubt be aware, the Government has announced a new national lockdown that is expected to last to at least the end of February. Travel is of course restricted to essential travel only, looking back to previous lockdowns we expect that rail services will be impacted and temporary timetables will be published in due course.

 

In addition as rail staff can be affected by Covid just as much as anyone, it is highly likely that there could be short notice service disruptions due to staff shortages, so please ensure that you check timetables well in advance for planned changes to services and if possible consult your operator’s web site for up to the minute news of short notice cancellations. Some links to  operator sites can be found below:

 

Northern Rail

Transpennine Express

Cross Country 

Avanti West Coast

Congratulations to our volunteers who’s work was recognised in the Cheshire Best Kept Stations Awards (CBKS).

 

CBKS is the country’s only County based awards event for rail volunteers. CBKS focuses on the work of grass roots volunteers and their activities on their stations and in their local communities.  You can read more about CBKS here including the full list of  winners.

Due to the circumstances created by the pandemic, the event had to move from our usual venue in Northwich to an on-line event which was broadcast on Youtube, You can watch the whole event here.

The South East Manchester CRP, working in partnership with the Crewe to Manchester CRP  and local Stockport artist Eamonn Murphy are happy to announce that their Station Connections Line Art project will be available for viewing at Stockport’s Memorial Gallery from May 15th.

On Friday 6th March SEM CRP was happy to welcome teacher Emily Roberts and children from Woodley Primary School to Woodley Railway Station so that the children could see the completed art work that they had contributed to. The banner used the school’s tag ‘CARE’

C: Confident and Creative

A: Aim high and be Ambitious

R: Responsible, Resilient and Respectful

E: Everyone matters

The Cheshire Best Kept Stations Awards were recently held at the Grange Theatre in Hartford, Northwich. Several station groups from the South East Manchester CRP were recognised for their hard work and the contribution that they make to improving the travelling experience for passengers. In particular Friends of Rose Hill won the overall  award for having Cheshire ‘s Best Kept Station in recognition of the fantastic flower displays around the station and their nationally recognised multi generational art project.

A full report of the awards ceremony can be found here. The key note speakers were Kul Bassi from the DfT and Chris Jackson from key sponsor Arriva Northern.

The South East Manchester Community Rail Partnership is happy to announce that its ‘Line Art’ collection is on display at Stockport Railway Station, Platform 3. We expect it to be on display throughout December. Please come in and take a look.

Northern Rail have launched their December 2019 timetables. They can be found on Northern’s website: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables

Congratulations to the Friends of: Romiley, Rose Hill and Strines for their nomination onto the short list phase of this year’s awards.

We are happy to be able to report that the RMT’s industrial action has been suspended. Northern and the RMT are currently engaged in negotiations with the support of ACAS.

There are still sporadic disruptions to Sunday services on various parts of the network. Please check Northern’s live updates page when planning your journey.

A new service is being provided at Marple Station. Fresh Coffee!

Fresh coffee provided by Coffee Bean Dream a wide variety of coffees available. Arrive a few minutes early and grab your cup.