Mining works could derail Kidsgrove Station improvements - MP

A new 200-space car park, station forecourt and extended station building is planned for Kidsgrove Station

A flagship scheme to improve facilities at a train station could be derailed due to mining works, an MP says.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council was awarded £3.85m for a new car park, station forecourt and extended station building at Kidsgrove Station.

But Jonathan Gullis MP said additional money was required, due to mine shafts in the area.

The Coal Authority stipulates that any future building on the site requires shafts to be stabilised.

A similar requirement was required for a previous project, which meant a new footbridge was delayed until the site had been made safe, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Gullis, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said not all of the mining works were fully dealt with at the time.

'Important project'

"I'm making the point to Network Rail that any work that needs to be done, they need to do," he said.

He said the project, funded from the government's Towns Fund, would improve the way the station looked, and would provide a better cafe and new 200-space car park.

"We know we're getting a 250,000 users a year at this station, and that seems to be growing - it's one of the fastest stations to recover post-pandemic," he added.

"I think this is so important as a project."

A spokesperson for Network Rail said it was sharing its expertise and would continue to work with the council and station operator East Midlands Railway to improve the station.

A previous multimillion-pound project to build new lifts had been hampered by "poor underground conditions," caused by "unmapped historic mine workings," they said.

Network Rail does not have any funding available to assist with work required to secure underground mine workings, the spokesperson added.