Rail passengers can expect better quality trains and more regular services after some successful lobbying by residents and the Council as part of the Northern re-franchising process.
The Department for Transport (DfT) and Rail North, a body representing all northern local authorities, has announced a range of improvements for rail services across the north of England.
These include an improved Sunday service on the Crewe to Manchester line with hourly trains from all stations and an earlier arrival time in Manchester. There will also be double the number of services between Wilmslow and the airport.
On the mid Cheshire line, Knutsford is to get a new half-hourly off-peak service to Manchester, which is a big improvement on the existing hourly service. There is also good news for the Sunday timetable with an hourly service at all stations on the line (currently the service is two-hourly).
On the Stoke-Macclesfield-Manchester line, a new half-hourly all-day service will be introduced at Macclesfield and Poynton. There is also an improved Sunday service which will increase to hourly at all stations, including Congleton (currently there are just five trains in each direction).
It all comes as part of an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the renewal of the Northern rail franchise issued by the DfT at the end of February.
Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: "I am delighted that many of the changes we have been lobbying for have been agreed. The local community rail partnerships have really played their part too so I'm delighted for everybody.
"In Knutsford, there are more than 450,000 passengers each year but the town currently only has an hourly service in the off-peak period. However, through continued lobbying there is now a half-hourly service throughout the day into Manchester, which is great news for local residents.
"The work doesn't stop here – we will continue to lobby the three shortlisted bidders for the Northern franchise to get even greater benefits than what is listed in the 'minimum service specification' outlined in the ITT, particularly at Disley and Middlewood."
He added: "I am a strong advocate of devolving more responsibility for specifying and managing passenger rail services in the north of England. We have worked hard to lobby on behalf of Cheshire East residents to improve rail connectivity as a driver of economic growth across the Borough."
The Government has also committed to improving the quality of trains with the Pacer units currently in use on the Northern network being completely phased out by 2020. There will also be free Wi-Fi on all trains by 2020 at the latest.
All of these changes will begin in April 2016 when the new contract starts.
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Instead of looking to invest heavily in more parking provision, the council should look closely at reinstating good rail and bus services so that commuters have a realistic, safe and comfortable alternative to car travel.