THE Mid-Cheshire line between Manchester and Chester via Knutsford needs urgent improvements.

It appears this is not going to happen under a Conservative-led government who keep saying they're investing in the railways in the north.

However, in reality every piece of good news they announce for railways in the north comes with hidden bad news.

Under the Conservatives' plans for the railways no new diesel trains would be ordered during the term of the next government.

This means for lines which aren't set to be electrified in the next 10 years (such as the Mid-Cheshire line) the best that could be hoped for is a cascade of Turbostar trains (the oldest of which was built in 1998) to replace the 1980s trains currently used and by the time they arrive they might be over 25 years old.

We need a proper short-term solution and the Conservative MP we have representing us keeps going about the long-term solutions of HS2 and HS3.

HS3 will not be a proper high-speed line but will involve using existing and new track to create a route similar to the Midland Mainline between Sheffield, the East Midlands and London opposed to a high-speed route with trains running at over 180mph like Eurostar or HS2.

Jen D' Angelo Knutsford