Future
In 2004, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that it intended to close the line. The Runcorn area of the West Coast Main Line was due to be resignalled, and the SRA claimed that incorporating the curve into the scheme added a significant extra cost which could not be justified given the scant service. The closure plans have since been postponed.
Other organisations are working to upgrade the line rather than close it. The North Cheshire Rail Users Group campaign for the reintroduction of regular services.
Merseytravel proposed upgrading the Halton Curve so it can be worked bidirectionally (which would need a new crossover at Halton Junction), providing a second rail route between Liverpool and Chester. Other new services could include direct trains from Liverpool Lime Street to Wrexham or Llandudno via Liverpool South Parkway and Runcorn, which would provide improved access to Liverpool Airport for passengers from Chester, Wrexham and the various towns along the North Wales coast.
In conjunction with the above proposal, Halton Borough Council are investigating the possibility of a new station on the curve, at Beechwood, which would provide convenient interchange with Runcorn's busway network.
On 8 March 2005, the then Transport Minister Tony McNulty announced in Parliament that the resignalling work is currently scheduled for 2010 and the future of the Halton Curve will be "resolved" by then.
In July 2012, it was announced that the government would not include the Halton Curve in a £9.4 billion rail improvement scheme, although Theresa Villiers, rail and aviation minister, said the scheme had ‘recognisable benefits’. The infrastructure has remained relatively unchanged for several years.
Chemical manufacture Ineos ChlorVinyls has also revealed that the company will evaluate the possibility of using the Halton Curve for delivery of refuse-derived fuel to their Runcorn site, as part of a wider assessment being undertaken in support of their new planning application.
Network Rail's draft Route Utilisation Strategy for Wales discusses the future of the line. An hourly service between Liverpool and Chester via Runcorn and Helsby, calling at all stations except Edge Hill could be feasible if the curve was restored to bidirectional operation. The RUS document recommends that further development work take place.
Read more about this topic: Halton Curve
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