THE introduction of two trains per hour in each direction for Northwich passengers has again been put back.

There will be no half-hourly train on the Mid Cheshire Line, between Chester and Manchester Piccadilly, on the forthcoming May 2019 timetables.

The promise of two trains per hour had been a key factor in rail operator Northern winning the Mid Cheshire Line franchise in 2015, along with the removal of Pacer trains.

A Northern spokesman said: “Our plans to introduce two services an hour on the Mid Cheshire Line have been deferred, primarily due to capacity issues in and around Manchester.

“Instead, with the new timetables we introduce in 2019, we will focus on delivering improved reliability and stability for our customers.

“This year we will also start to introduce our brand new trains, retire the old Pacers, continue the refurbishment of the rest of our existing trains and carry out further work to improve our stations – all aimed at improving journeys for our customers.”

Tatton MP Esther McVey – whose constituency covers stations at Knutsford and Lostock Gralam – had called for answers from rail minister Chris Grayling after Transport for the North reported in the autumn that capacity issues had put the additional trains plan in doubt.

Mr Grayling said both Northern and Network Rail believe additional paths cannot be accommodated without ‘adversely affecting the reliability of other services on the network’.

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Ms McVey said: “This is extremely disappointing news for my constituents who use the line and have been repeatedly promised an upgrade.

“It is unacceptable to have such an unreliable and irregular service in such a busy part of the country. The increase in service was part of the franchise bid and I and everyone else expects Northern to deliver this.

“I will be speaking with the Department for Transport and setting out why this service is vital and that I expect support from them to get the extra services delivered.

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“My constituents deserve a proper explanation as to why this has been postponed and a timetable to get it back on track as promised.

“I met with Northern last month to discuss transport issues and we discussed this issue and at no point did anyone say it was going to be postponed so I will be speaking to them again to find out why things have changed so suddenly.”

The extra hourly train was due to be introduced in Northern’s December 2017 timetable, but was pushed back on a number of occasions.

In a letter to Ms McVey, Mr Grayling said: “I know this will be disappointing to you and to the residents of Knutsford.

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“The requirement for the second train per hour from the Mid-Cheshire line to Manchester remains part of the train Service Requirements of the franchise agreement.

“However, Northern did not put in a bid to run this service in the May 2019 timetable, as, until there are some more fundamental changes to all operators’ services between Stockport and Manchester, the same delivery challenges remain.”

In addition to raising the matter with the DfT, Ms McVey has also written to Northern demanding an explanation.