Some £250 million of investment is being delivered on a major rail development near Stafford by Network Rail. 

The work is part of the Stafford Area Improvements Programme, which is intended to remove the last major bottleneck on the West Coast main line at Norton Bridge. 

It is hoped this will allow more passenger and freight services to run between London, the Midlands and the north-west, in addition to reducing the number of freight deliveries made by road. 

The bulk of the investment will be focused on new signalling equipment in and around Stafford, line speed improvements between Stafford and Crewe and building a new rail-over-rail flyover at Norton Bridge.

Network Rail senior programme manager Ian Jones said: "The works in Stafford are of local and national benefit for passengers. It was essential we completed the work on time and means we can now get materials to the site by rail."