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MVA's £3m railway success

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MVA Consultancy has helped to secure £3.3m of funding from the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) to create a new railway station in Chorley.

The Housing Green Paper published in July 2007 included provision for a £300m (CIF) – administered jointly by the Department for Transport and Department for Communities and Local Government – for transport schemes that support major housing developments.

After reviewing business cases developed by many local authorities, the departments announced last month that £30m of the fund would be made available to 12 schemes across England. Chorley Buckshaw Parkway was awarded £3.3m in response to a bid from Lancashire County and Chorley Borough Councils. This sum completes the funding package and will allow work to progress over coming months.  Network Rail has developed a delivery programme which should see the first passengers using Buckshaw Parkway in early 2011.

Buckshaw Parkway, on the Preston – Manchester line, will serve a strategically important housing and employment site, which is planned to contain some 3,600 dwellings as well as 25,000 m2 of commercial and retail floorspace.  The station will be served by three trains in each direction per hour and include a park-and-ride facility with up to 300 parking spaces.

MVA Consultancy has worked with the councils and other stakeholders for more than five years to develop proposals for Buckshaw Parkway. Its primary focus has been to demonstrate the cases for the Government to support and ultimately part fund the proposals, and for train operators to manage the station and stop services at Buckshaw Parkway. 

All necessary support has now been achieved and these cases were informed by our analyses of future patronage and revenue streams, and assessment against Government criteria for investing in transport infrastructure.  Working alongside its clients and GVA Grimley, MVA led the preparation of the CIF business case in line with the Departments’ guidelines.

Nick Benbow, MVA’s Deputy Divisional Director for the Midlands, Northern England and Wales, said:  “After working closely with the Councils and other for more than five years we are delighted to have helped to secure the final element of funding required delivering Bucksaw Parkway. 

“This has been both a challenging and rewarding process and we would like to congratulate Lancashire County and Chorley Borough Councils.”

Information for Editors:

Industry-leader MVA Consultancy provides advice on transport and other policy areas, to central, regional and local government, agencies, developers, operators and financiers

A diverse group of results-oriented people, we are part of a 500-strong team worldwide. Through client business planning, customer research and strategy development we create solutions that work for real people in the real world.

For further information please contact:

Emma O'Sullivan on 01483 742925
or email eosullivan@mvaconsultancy.com

or

Sarah White on 01483 742975
or email swhite@mvaconsultancy.com

14 September 2009