The Stockport neighbourhoods being ‘left behind’ with transport
A Stockport councillor has said there is growing frustration from residents in parts of the borough who feel "left behind".
Peter Crossen, representing Bramhall South and Woodford, said there are major concerns in the communities with bus and train services.
He highlighted issues at Bramhall railway station on Sundays, which Mr Crossen said has 'lacked a viable Sunday service for nearly 12 months.'
He also claimed that bus services have been 'significantly reduced' such as the withdrawn 307 and 308 routes, and said that the village of Woodford is served by 'just one bus per hour at peak times'.
In a letter to Stockport council's new leader Mark Roberts, Cllr Crossen called for urgent investment in public transport outside of the town centre, and said the current situation is 'simply not good enough.'
The comments have come after Greater Manchester was awarded £2.5bn in funding for a range of transport projects, including extending Metrolink to Stockport town centre.
Stockport town centre also has trains which run to Manchester city centre, and buses from its transport interchange which opened last year.
Cllr Crossen wrote: 'The announcement that the Stockport Metrolink extension has secured central government funding will no doubt be welcomed by many, particularly within the town hall.
'However, it also reinforces a growing and understandable sentiment among thousands of residents in the outlying suburbs – that they are, once again, being left behind.
'It is difficult to understand why yet another link from central Stockport to Manchester has been prioritised, while major suburban areas remain underserved.'
In November, residents in Bramhall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they felt "cut off" due to the lack of reliable train services on Sundays.
Ioannis Verdelis lives in the village and said at the time that trains had not been running at the station on Sundays for months.
Northern Rail, which runs services through Bramhall station to Manchester, said it is running a temporary timetable in the North West on Sundays as it tries to 'stabilise' performance.
The rail firm said there used to be six trains a day calling at Bramhall on Sundays, but it is currently running around six rail replacement services a day on the route on Sundays.
Matt Rice, Northern's chief operating officer, added: "There are green shoots of progress, but we know more work needs to be done before we can deliver lasting improvements for our customers.
"That includes securing a new agreement, so we are no longer reliant on conductors volunteering to work Sundays.
"We are also working to reduce sickness levels by helping staff return to work, introducing state-of-the-art simulators to accelerate our training programme and planning to make the largest ever investment in our fleet by introducing up to 450 new trains."
Cllr Grace Baynham, Stockport council's cabinet member for transport, said the borough is making "real progress in public transport" services.
She added: "Metrolink will benefit the whole borough – just like the Interchange is already doing.
"We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build an integrated transport system that works for everyone – and we're taking it.
"That doesn't mean there aren't issues still to fix. We're well aware of the challenges in Bramhall and other areas – and I'll continue working with TfGM [Transport for Greater Manchester], Northern and Network Rail to push for improvements, including service frequency and better connections."
Stockport council's leader, Mark Roberts, has responded to Cllr Crossen's letter and offered to meet with him to discuss the issues.
Cllr Roberts wrote: 'We will continue to press the government and TfGM for more funding and for the upgrades we need to public transport across the borough.
'Unlike the Conservatives locally, however, we won't be talking any part of our borough down in favour of another. We need improvements everywhere from those who are responsible for delivering them.'
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said the 307 and 308 services were withdrawn in 2020, before the start of bus franchising through the Bee Network.
It said it has met with all Bramhall ward councillors as part of a series of meetings to discuss the current and future transport network.
Alison Chew, TfGM's deputy director of bus, said: "We are listening and responding to feedback every day and are working closely with Stockport to ensure the Bee Network works for the people and communities it serves – with a review of services in the area, including Bramhall, planned to start later this year.
"In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with operators to focus on performance of existing services, which has already seen us make some changes to address crowding and reliability issues on the 313."
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