MIDDLEWICH MP Fiona Bruce has pledged to devote her time and effort to re-opening the Middlewich Railway Station, after her huge breakthrough of securing funding for the long-awaited bypass.

Last week, Fiona told the Guardian that after almost 30 years of Middlewich residents campaigning for a bypass to relieve the pressures on the town’s roads, securing £46.8 million of Government funding for the road was the highlight of her time in Parliament.

Now Fiona says the campaign to put Middlewich ‘back on the rail map’ has immediately become her focus.

Fiona said: “I have already spoken with the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling about this immediately after the announcement regarding the bypass funding, and have said I will now be pressing for this as I have pressed for the bypass until we see this happen.

“When you are trying to get yourself heard with issues like this, it’s all about not just being a lone voice, but having a lot of local people behind you, and Middlewich people have shown they are the best for that.”

The station in Middlewich was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in 1960 and there has been a campaign group dedicated to getting the station reopened since 1992.

Fiona has pushed for the station and the Mid Cheshire Rail Link - which links the Mid Cheshire Line to the Crewe to Manchester line - to be reopened since presenting a petition of more than 2,000 in Parliament in 2013.

However, the MP for Congleton says the bypass success will now allow her to ‘redouble’ her attention to bringing the station back to Middlewich.

“Reopening the station would help reduce congestion right across this region,” Fiona said.

“The funding that has now been agreed will bring an extra 2,000 jobs to Middlewich. That’s fantastic news for the town and the people of Middlewich, but it means that a station at Middlewich becomes increasingly the most sensible thing to do.”

“It’s about redoubling my attention, because I have been working on this for several years. I immediately spoke with Chris Grayling on this and he understands the area well and the transport pressures here and I could tell he was willing to listen to me regarding the reopening of the station.”

Samantha Moss, Mid Cheshire Rail Link Campaign secretary, said the campaigners were optimistic that Fiona could now push on to help deliver another major breakthrough for the town.

Samantha said: “It’s absolutely vital to get the support of your local MPs with campaigns like this and Fiona has always been a fantastic support for the campaign.

“The Transport Secretary is local and I think we have a really good opportunity with someone who understands the area and the problem here but we need Fiona to help apply that pressure.”