HS2 route to cut through NW commuter belt
ONE of the two HS2 stations in Manchester has been proposed for an area close to Hale Barn’s “millionaires’ row”.
The track – which will not be built for 20 years – also looks set to affect the upmarket Cheshire village of Ashley, and the villages around Middlewich and Northwich, as it makes its way towards the city through Chancellor George Osborne’s Tatton constituency.
There will also be further disruption around Warrington and Lymm where it will continue to the existing West Coast line.
The government has suggested a new interchange at Manchester Airport should sit to the west of the M56, and north of Hale Road at Davenport Green – directly behind Hale’s upmarket Brooks Drive.
But those who own homes in the street, which sell for around £2m, are unlikely to be the only people protesting about the planned route.
Other Hale residents, already angry at major expansion plans at the airport for Airport City and a logistics hub, could join with those affected in Cheshire to oppose the link in the same way many have in the South.
According to the government’s report, the line will follow the M6 through much of Cheshire. Heading north from Crewe it will pass between Winsford and Middlewich, cutting east around Northwich.
North of junction 19 it will split, with one line heading north to the east of Lymm and Warrington, past Cadishead and Culcheth, to a depot in Golborne near Wigan where it will link with existing track. The Manchester spur will arch across open countryside, cutting between High Legh Golf Club and Hoo Green towards the M56.
It will cut across the A556 and travel north of Rostherne Mere south of the M56 and follow the motorway towards Manchester, crossing the Altrincham-to-Chester railway line at Ashley.
It will continue across farmland until coming close to junction 6 and the site of the planned world logistics hub – which was once classed as green belt. Here it will pass under the motorway before arriving at the interchange.
From the interchange it will travel towards a tunnel at junction 5 that will take the trains all the way to Ardwick and a new station at Piccadilly – sparing south Manchester from disruption.
The full report is available here, while detailed maps can be found here.
