Plans to upgrade a Stoke-on-Trent railway station with new lifts have been scrapped – as they are no longer affordable.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council secured £29 million of Transforming Cities funding in 2020 to improve public transport across the Potteries, including £1.2 million for a revamp of Longton Station.

The original plans included the installation of lifts to improve accessibility, along with facilities for cyclists and new passenger shelters.

But the cost of carrying out remediation work and installing the lifts is now estimated to be £6.5 million – far in excess of the £3.5 million budget for the scheme.

This is due to technical surveys revealing 'poor land conditions' – believed to relate to mining works which were not taken into account when the Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) bid was submitted.

The city council is now planning to use the TCF money allocated to Longton to partly fund a raft of public realm and transport improvements in the town centre.

Talks are taking place with East Midlands Railway on alternative proposals for the station.

The now-abandoned plans to upgrade Longton Station with new lifts.(Stoke-on-Trent City Council)

Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, whose constituency includes Longton Station, was told the reasons for the change of plan after writing to council leader Jane Ashworth. He expressed disappointment that the original scheme would not be carried out.

Mr Snell said: "I'm disappointed that the long-promised lifts have been cancelled. Longton Station could be a gateway to the south of the city and with the growing popularity of Gladstone Pottery Museum, having an accessible train station at Longton would be a valuable addition to the town.

"I hope the council is thoroughly reviewing why the original funding bid was so low so that these sort of mistakes which impact on regeneration projects can be prevented from happening again.'

The city council has been carrying out a public consultation on its plans for Longton town centre, which include the creation of a new public square outside the town hall and improvements to Baths Passage and Strange Passage.

Council leaders say the works will improve connections between the town centre, retail park, railway station and bus station, and make Longton a more attractive place to visit.

Along with the TCF money, the council plans to pay for the scheme using Levelling Up funding and cash from the Bus Service Improvement Plan. While the Longton plans has yet to get under way, the much bigger TCF scheme to transform the area around Stoke Station is now nearing completion.

In her written response to Mr Snell, Cllr Ashworth explained that the land condition issues and the decision to combine the funding pots had both contributed to the delays in Longton.

She said: "In addition to TCF, the council is combining Levelling Up Partnership and Bus Service Improvement Fund grants to maximise impact and reduce disruption. However, this has taken longer to develop and agree this approach and that explains the different timelines for delivery.

"The other issue which has caused some delay is that after a range of technical surveys, the poor land conditions mean the additional remediation costs and direct cost of installing lifts at Longton Station combined, significantly exceeds the available budget (estimate of £6.5m costs against £3.5m budget) and so is deemed currently unaffordable and the Department for Transport are aware of this current position."

Cllr Ashworth added that the council planned to complete the Longton works by April 2026.

The issues with Longton Station appear to be quite similar to problems that have afflicted a planned upgrade of Kidsgrove Station. Kidsgrove's Town Deal included £3.7 million to rebuild the station, but these plans have now been scaled back due to ground remediation costs – relating to historic mining works – making the original scheme unaffordable.

The city council has been approached for comment.