A Stoke-on-Trent railway station could be given the go ahead later this year. MP Huw Merriman, Minister of State at the Department for Transport, visited Meir to signal his support for the scheme on Tuesday (August 8).

While he stressed no decisions had been made, Mr Merriman said approval could be given in 2023 if it is chosen as one of the projects for the Government's £500 million Restoring Your Railways programme.

Jack Brereton, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, has been making the case for Meir Station to be reopened, more than half a century after the old station closed during the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Last year the project was allocated £1.7 million so more detailed proposals could be drawn up.

Mr Merriman said: "Meir Station has a very, very good case. There's a lack of social mobility around the area and there's a lot of government funding that's going into Stoke-on-Trent.

"The ability to connect the two, particularly in an area where 40% of households in this ward don't have cars, it really sells itself as far as that's concerned.

"So, I would just say watch this space. We've got some decisions to make, but the reopening of Meir Station has a very good case."

MP Huw Merriman said Stoke-on-Trent's railways had suffered some of the worst cuts in the country (Nub News).

He said Stoke-on-Trent's railways had suffered some of the worst cuts in the country under Beeching and this is something the funding is attempting to reverse.

He also confirmed that giving the go-ahead for Meir Station could bring about a more frequent service on the Crewe-Derby line.

He said: "The more people we get on the train, the better the business case for us to then extend the timetable so we have more trains per hour. The railway post-pandemic is only about 70% of its previous financing, so fewer people are using the railway.

"Of course we want to get more people on it, which is why we're here today looking at the proposal to deliver a new station here at Meir. I'm really keen to work with Jack Brereton to see how we can get more people onto the train."

The proposal is one of more than 100 submissions the government is currently looking at funding.

Mr Brereton said: "I know a huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes, Network Rail has been working on the full business case and delivery study and that's at a very advanced stage.

"I'm very hopeful, obviously we've got a very strong case for Meir. It's somewhere we've got lots of households that don't own a car, we've got a lot of issues with deprivation in the Meir area.

"This whole project is about improving transport to help people have better access to highly-skilled jobs, better skills and employment opportunities. If we can have a station here it would really help in connecting Meir up to other parts of the city and further afield."

Mr Brereton added: "We've currently got an hourly service on this line, but that is something I've always been pushing for – to improve the frequency of this service.

"That's something I've raised with the minister today, that it would be great to have a half-hourly service on this line.

"If we're going to get Meir Station, we should have an enhanced service on that line as well."

TO FIND OUT HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR BILLS THIS SUMMER - CLICK THE 'HELP FOR HOUSEHOLDS' BANNER ABOVE THIS ARTICLE. 

READ MORE: Woman raises over £1,000 for Royal Stoke Hospital following live-saving heart surgery

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stoke Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our city.

Subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter email HERE - just click the 'SIGN UP' button.

Please consider following Stoke Nub News on Facebook or Twitter.