Chiltern peak super-fasts

[calc7]

May I enquire as to why Chiltern chooses to stop its headliner Birmingham services at Warwick Parkway and Solihull?

Advertising reasons? To give Warwick Parkway and Solihull lower headline times
Financial reasons? More "premium" than stopping at Leamington/Banbury
Operational reasons? E.g. platform space/pathing.

Any chance of a Birmingham Moor St - Marylebone non-stop, a la 0730 Virgin service?

 

[RPM]

I guess those are the two intermediate West Midlands stations with the most potential for growth and the car parking space to accommodate it? Little chance of a non-stop service. It is the intermediate West Mids stations that Chiltern are relying on for growth more than Bimingham itself.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I believe that the 'fast' Moor St-Solihull-Warwick Parkway-Marylebone now calls at Leamington Spa too, but still not Banbury. I guess that LMS / BAN were covered by other peak services (in Banbury's case at least), but the ones north of Leamington weren't, ergo it calls there. Further, Solihull is one of the West Midland's more affluent towns, I suspect there's a good market between there and London - it also take some custom away from Birmingham International a few miles east: I suppose you could also say Warwick Parkway (which also has a new car park) does similar for Coventry and acts as a railhead for Warwick city and rural Warks.

 

[Andrewlong]

Solihull is a very wealthy area of the West Midlands - you should see the size of some of the houses near to the railway station. It gives commuters an alternative to travelling to Birmingham International to catch a Virgin train.

Warwick Parkway has a good sized car park and is right next to the M40/A46. It is easy to get to from Warwick, Stratford and Leamington. Chiltern must be wanting to develop the midlands to London commuting market.

I lived in the area until the early 1980s and the idea of commuting from Solihull/Warwick was impracticable unlike now!

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Passenger demand justifies it. Solihull is a station Chiltern do very well out of, it's in a very affluent area and I believe it is the station which has had the most passenger growth since Evergreen 3 was completed.

Warwick Parkway is very busy. London passengers are standing three deep on the platform in the morning peak. Much like Solihull offers a genuine alternative to those who use nearby Birmingham International, Warwick Parkway provides a good alternative for those who use Coventry. If you are in the affluent south of Coventry then Warwick Parkway might actually be easier to get to that Coventry station in peak hours as it is a few hundred yards off of a three lane wide A road, while Coventry station is in an area with heavy traffic.

Leamington Spa? Again, it's a busy station, the busiest in Warwickshire unless I am mistaken. Has good connections and you dont save much time by not stopping there because the line speed through the station (40 on the up, 35 on the down) is so low.

 

[stu]

Warwick Parkway is incredibly handy, I will soon be living 15 minutes drive from it, and for that I am rewarded with a 1h12m train into London, not to mention quick links to Birmingham etc. Plus it's incredibly cheap compared to the alternatives.

I know alot of people use this station who live/work in Stratford as the train to London is slow and infrequent.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Out of interest, does anyone know how busy the morning 'express' (the Solihull / Warwick Parkway only) was pre-December, and how much busier it is because of the Leamington stop?

 

[The Planner]

I thought Warwick Parkway was pretty much funded and built by Chiltern anyway ? would be daft not to stop there on the headline trains.

 

[Robsignals]

The furthest stations have the highest fares while seats for those joining at Banbury will probably be empty from Birmingham so it makes most sense to fill trains as early as possible in their journey. If the prime AM train is full leaving Moor St then it should run non-stop to Marylebone but commuters like to have flexibility (as commuter coach operators soon find) and wouldn't be happy if there were no other trains for an hour either side.

 

[Pumbaa]

I thought Warwick Parkway was pretty much funded and built by Chiltern anyway ? would be daft not to stop there on the headline trains.

I was going to say, it's their baby.