One year has passed since a train last stopped at Congleton on a Sunday.

The reduction in such services is the result of a dispute between Northern Trains and the RMT Union over rest days.

Congleton resident and rail travel advocate Richard Eadie has arranged to meet a town councillor at the station on the anniversary of the last Sunday service (September 21) to discuss the options for ensuring the restoration of these services.

Richard, who works in the signalling control side of the rail industry, has emailed Northern several times to express his 'disappointment'.

He wrote: "Put bluntly, Northern's current destruction of weekend rail options at Congleton (as well as similarly well-used stations on the line like Poynton and Bramhall) cannot be allowed to continue.

"Irrespective of the current industrial relations issues, Northern's complete removal of the single diagram for the Stoke service on a Sunday is unacceptable.

"I do hope you see fit to begin to work with local stakeholders and enable the restoration of a half-decent rail service to the East Cheshire area."

Rail travel advocate Richard Eadie will meet with a local councillor at Congleton station on Sunday (Credit: Nub News)

Northern introduced a reduced Sunday timetable on several lines in the North West last year.

This was done to reduce the number of short-notice cancellations caused by issues with traincrew availability.

However, the operator says they 'haven't lost sight' of the impact this has had on customers in Congleton and other affected areas.

A spokesperson said: "Getting to a place where we are no longer reliant on conductors in the North West volunteering to work Sundays remains a priority.

"We have made good progress in talks with the union and will continue to work towards reaching a new agreement."

Richard has also written to the MP for Congleton, Sarah Russell, to ask for her support.

He said: "At a time when the public is being asked to be environmentally conscious, weekend trips have been all but impossible to and from our local station for 12 months - this is shameful.

"To the casual observer, this looks like taking Northern back into public ownership has made those franchise commitments redundant and therefore given the public a significantly much worse service than previously. 

"At Congleton, that is certainly our experience."