The revised West Midlands rail strategy.

[Birmingham]

I really fail to see what use a station at Rushwick would be. It’s in the middle of nowhere (in relation to Worcester) and we’ve already got a Parkway Station that serves London, Birmingham and the South West.

They built the Western Bypass to take traffic away from the village (as that’s what it is) - they seriously want to start dumping loads of cars in the local area that would result from the station being built?

They‘d maybe be better off reopening Henwick or Fernhill Heath for what it’s worth…

Not another new station in Worcestershire. The last is disaster enough.

 

[Stephen Lee]

I do think breaking the cross country monopoly on east to west midlands services (derby/Nottingham/Leicester to Birmingham/Coventry) would do better than the current regime for these extra inter midlands services.

I would probably suggest EMT to operate if it were to be run using DMUs or WMT if electrification becomes a thing at some point due to their higher usage and experience of EMUs imo

Ancient Chinese philosophers always said “Competition makes improvements”

 

[Fidelis]

The document describes these as "Aspirational train services" and many depend on the Midlands Rail Hub at Moor Street to provide the additional platforms.
The North Cotswold Line Task Group proposed in their 2019 submission to the DfT two services to Paddington an hour one starting at Kidderminster and another at Worcester. Whilst the WMRE proposals are for delivery in 2026-30 the increased service is dependent on doubling the track between Evesham and Pershore and doubling at Wolvercote Junction to Hanborough. The business case for starting at Stourbridge was found to be poor.
I presume "Birmingham" is referring to Worcestershire Parkway which according to the ORR figures had in 2021-22 over 330,00 passengers despite Covid restrictions and frequently the car park is 80% full out of 500 spaces leading Worcestershire County Council in their Rail Investment Strategy to look at increasing the capacity .
I understand the the Moor Street -Oxford service is planned from the Midlands Rail Hub to the new platform on the west side of Oxford Station. Onward to Didcot will require quadrupling the track south from Oxford.

 

[Stephen Lee]

The document describes these as "Aspirational train services" and many depend on the Midlands Rail Hub at Moor Street to provide the additional platforms.
The North Cotswold Line Task Group proposed in their 2019 submission to the DfT two services to Paddington an hour one starting at Kidderminster and another at Worcester. Whilst the WMRE proposals are for delivery in 2026-30 the increased service is dependent on doubling the track between Evesham and Pershore and doubling at Wolvercote Junction to Hanborough. The business case for starting at Stourbridge was found to be poor.
I presume "Birmingham" is referring to Worcestershire Parkway which according to the ORR figures had in 2021-22 over 330,00 passengers despite Covid restrictions and frequently the car park is 80% full out of 500 spaces leading Worcestershire County Council in their Rail Investment Strategy to look at increasing the capacity .
I understand the the Moor Street -Oxford service is planned from the Midlands Rail Hub to the new platform on the west side of Oxford Station. Onward to Didcot will require quadrupling the track south from Oxford.

How poor it is
But I wondered if Chiltern will strengthen Kidderminster-London via Birmingham Snow Hill service too

 

[class ep-09]

Not another new station in Worcestershire. The last is disaster enough.

Quite opposite .
Weekdays car park occupancy is well above 70-80% and if you add the 10,000 homes that Worcestershire will be allowing to be built not far from it , that station will be a lot busier still requiring more car spaces.

The document describes these as "Aspirational train services" and many depend on the Midlands Rail Hub at Moor Street to provide the additional platforms.
The North Cotswold Line Task Group proposed in their 2019 submission to the DfT two services to Paddington an hour one starting at Kidderminster and another at Worcester. Whilst the WMRE proposals are for delivery in 2026-30 the increased service is dependent on doubling the track between Evesham and Pershore and doubling at Wolvercote Junction to Hanborough. The business case for starting at Stourbridge was found to be poor.
I presume "Birmingham" is referring to Worcestershire Parkway which according to the ORR figures had in 2021-22 over 330,00 passengers despite Covid restrictions and frequently the car park is 80% full out of 500 spaces leading Worcestershire County Council in their Rail Investment Strategy to look at increasing the capacity .
I understand the the Moor Street -Oxford service is planned from the Midlands Rail Hub to the new platform on the west side of Oxford Station. Onward to Didcot will require quadrupling the track south from Oxford.

Do we know if there is any prospect of the redoubling of the North Cots Line ( not entirely but as per post above )?

 

[bussnapperwm]

There are 3 TOCs which could theoretically operate it - GWR, WMT or Chiltern.

Options would I guess be:
- Extend the GWR Didcot-Banbury (roughly 0.5tph at present) back to Moor St
- Extend the hourly WMT Dorridge terminator to Oxford, with GWR operating a shuttle Oxford-Didcot only, or all the way to Didcot
- Entirely new service in addition to what runs now which could be any of the three but less likely to be GWR

It wouldn't I suspect be via Bicester as that would require a reversal.

Thread to continue discussion: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...mingham-moor-street-to-oxford-service.240273/

Option 4 could be extending the "Leamington shuttle" to Oxford as part of it

For the following new services, i wondered which franchise will be the operator
Coventry - Leicester - Nottingham
Birmingham Moor Street – Oxford(I think it can extend to Snow Hill and Reading/Didcot)
Stourbridge Junction - Kidderminster – Worcester - London
Birmingham Moor Street - Cardiff and Bristol
Additional services Birmingham – Leicester and Derby

For the Stourbridge - London I reckon it'd be Great Western who'd run that... maybe as an alternate hour service to the Herefords. (Ideally that could extend even further by opening a new station at Brierley Hill (maybe near to the Round Oak works/Canal Street metro) and having it interchange with the WM Metro for Merry Hill.

The Cardiff/Bristol/East Midlands service would be most likely Cross Country, same with Coventry - Notthingham.

The document describes these as "Aspirational train services" and many depend on the Midlands Rail Hub at Moor Street to provide the additional platforms.
The North Cotswold Line Task Group proposed in their 2019 submission to the DfT two services to Paddington an hour one starting at Kidderminster and another at Worcester. Whilst the WMRE proposals are for delivery in 2026-30 the increased service is dependent on doubling the track between Evesham and Pershore and doubling at Wolvercote Junction to Hanborough. The business case for starting at Stourbridge was found to be poor.
I presume "Birmingham" is referring to Worcestershire Parkway which according to the ORR figures had in 2021-22 over 330,00 passengers despite Covid restrictions and frequently the car park is 80% full out of 500 spaces leading Worcestershire County Council in their Rail Investment Strategy to look at increasing the capacity .
I understand the the Moor Street -Oxford service is planned from the Midlands Rail Hub to the new platform on the west side of Oxford Station. Onward to Didcot will require quadrupling the track south from Oxford.

Unless it replaces the stopper service?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unless it replaces the stopper service?

To be honest, Reading/Didcot to Birmingham Moor St, even as a stopper, would be very useful in mitigating the overcrowding issues on that part of XC.

 

[ABB125]

Not another new station in Worcestershire. The last is disaster enough.

Why do you say that?

 

[cle]

Option 4 could be extending the "Leamington shuttle" to Oxford as part of it


For the Stourbridge - London I reckon it'd be Great Western who'd run that... maybe as an alternate hour service to the Herefords. (Ideally that could extend even further by opening a new station at Brierley Hill (maybe near to the Round Oak works/Canal Street metro) and having it interchange with the WM Metro for Merry Hill.

The Cardiff/Bristol/East Midlands service would be most likely Cross Country, same with Coventry - Notthingham.


Unless it replaces the stopper service?

I believe there was talk about EWR replacing the stopper service, with the 387 remaining London-Didcot (even with a wired Oxford) - which seems weird to me. But the paths are finite - as are the bays (and I think one will be lost temporarily while Oxford main station works are done)

 

[Stephen Lee]

In the 2018-2047 version, SHL extensions to Brierley Hill and Safari Park are mentioned but how come it is not mentioned in the revised version…..

Option 4 could be extending the "Leamington shuttle" to Oxford as part of it


For the Stourbridge - London I reckon it'd be Great Western who'd run that... maybe as an alternate hour service to the Herefords. (Ideally that could extend even further by opening a new station at Brierley Hill (maybe near to the Round Oak works/Canal Street metro) and having it interchange with the WM Metro for Merry Hill.

The Cardiff/Bristol/East Midlands service would be most likely Cross Country, same with Coventry - Notthingham.


Unless it replaces the stopper service?

The Oxford-BMS service will be an entire new service, so Chiltern will be the best choice

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Dec 2022 ==

Option 4 could be extending the "Leamington shuttle" to Oxford as part of it


For the Stourbridge - London I reckon it'd be Great Western who'd run that... maybe as an alternate hour service to the Herefords. (Ideally that could extend even further by opening a new station at Brierley Hill (maybe near to the Round Oak works/Canal Street metro) and having it interchange with the WM Metro for Merry Hill.

The Cardiff/Bristol/East Midlands service would be most likely Cross Country, same with Coventry - Notthingham.


Unless it replaces the stopper service?

The question is whether GWR has enough IETs to run. Meanwhile, GWR has issued a tender for new EMUs for London-Swindon-(Cardiff), I wondered who will win the tender.

Fleet of 30 X 4-Car Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) [Notice]

Great Western Railway (GWR) is seeking expressions of interest from suppliers for provision of a fle... A Utilities Contract Notice by First Greater Western.

bidstats.uk

 

[D365]

Then what is the purpose of increasing the no. of Class 730/0s……….

Where has this been announced?

Well, I don’t expect Class 221s end up in Scrapyards, there are class 360/2s end up in scrapyards as you know.
Meanwhile, if I am right, the retirement plan of Pacers have been finished and now plans to scrap Class 317/319/321s and Class 153s are in progress.

I'm not sure how talk of scrapping ex-BR multiple units relates to your original topic and your desire to see additional 221s at CrossCountry.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Dec 2022 ==

Meanwhile, GWR has issued a tender for new EMUs for London-Swindon-(Cardiff), I wondered who will win the tender.

Fleet of 30 X 4-Car Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) [Notice]

Great Western Railway (GWR) is seeking expressions of interest from suppliers for provision of a fle... A Utilities Contract Notice by First Greater Western.

bidstats.uk

There was a thread on this. The consensus is that GWR was looking for a better deal from Porterbrook on their 387/1s.

 

[The Planner]

In the 2018-2047 version, SHL extensions to Brierley Hill and Safari Park are mentioned but how come it is not mentioned in the revised version…..

Probably because they realised the Safari Park was bonkers and Brierley Hill wasn't worth it.

 

[Birmingham]

Why do you say that?

Sure it’s another place for people to drive to and catch a train, but the services which would improve the county’s rail service do not and will not call there: the station could have facilitated new services from Worcestershire to Bristol and the south west and to the north.

 

[Stephen Lee]

Probably because they realised the Safari Park was bonkers and Brierley Hill wasn't worth it.

Why?

 

[Energy]

Why?

There is the Severn valley railway buts its the wrong side of the safari park, the walk from Bewdley Station (very close to the south side of the park) google estimates at 29 mins.

There are regular buses from Kidderminster which take about 10 mins.

The Severn Valley railway struggled to make money in the early 1900s so it would probably stuggle now.

Where has this been announced?

It was announced in modern railways that the order would be 48x3 car and 32x5 car (or around that amount) with all the 5 cars being identical

The Oxford-BMS service will be an entire new service, so Chiltern will be the best choice

I still think making it a BMS to Paddington service via Oxford would be better, Marylebone is full while Paddington is comparatively empty now the Elizabeth line is open.

 

[Fidelis]

Option 4 could be extending the "Leamington shuttle" to Oxford as part of it


For the Stourbridge - London I reckon it'd be Great Western who'd run that... maybe as an alternate hour service to the Herefords. (Ideally that could extend even further by opening a new station at Brierley Hill (maybe near to the Round Oak works/Canal Street metro) and having it interchange with the WM Metro for Merry Hill.

The Cardiff/Bristol/East Midlands service would be most likely Cross Country, same with Coventry - Notthingham.


Unless it replaces the stopper service?

The North Cotswold Line Task Force Business case states that there would be two trains per hour to Paddington one from Great Malvern stopping at all station to Moreton -in-Marsh then Hanborough, Oxford, Reading and Paddington.
The other Kidderminster, Droitwich Spa ,Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcestershire Parkway, Moreton in Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury, Hanborough, Oxford, Reading and Paddington.

The current five trains a day extending to Hereford would continue.
The benefit-Cost ratio is 4.41to1.

 

[Birmingham]

The North Cotswold Line Task Force Business case states that there would be two trains per hour to Paddington

Dreamland! Does anyone really think this will actually happen?

 

[ABB125]

Sure it’s another place for people to drive to and catch a train, but the services which would improve the county’s rail service do not and will not call there: the station could have facilitated new services from Worcestershire to Bristol and the south west and to the north.

The presence of Worcestershire Parkway has no effect on whether new services run or not. If WOP didn't exist, any new services would either call at Bromsgrove, or go via Worcester (or both). All WOP does is reduce the journey time penalty for stopping in Worcestershire.

(To clarify my position, I'm very much in favour of at least another hourly service between Birmingham and Bristol, calling at the smaller stations on the route.)

 

[Glenn1969]

Is any of this likely to be funded?

 

[Birmingham]

The presence of Worcestershire Parkway has no effect on whether new services run or not. If WOP didn't exist, any new services would either call at Bromsgrove, or go via Worcester (or both). All WOP does is reduce the journey time penalty for stopping in Worcestershire.

(To clarify my position, I'm very much in favour of at least another hourly service between Birmingham and Bristol, calling at the smaller stations on the route.)

Sorry, by new services I meant new to Worcestershire, i.e. calling the long-distance services that currently pass fast through the station.

 

[cle]

Most likely is:
Chiltern from Oxford - Moor St (fast/semi-fast) - from the bays and inter worked 168s.
GWR - Paddington to Oxford extended to Hanborough. Might be predicated on wires and include those, but could happen without.

 

[The Planner]

Is any of this likely to be funded?

The western bits have more chance than the eastern ones.