Coventry Ricoh Arena

[OwlMan]

Coventry City Council granted planning permission last night for the new station next to the Ricoh Arena

 

[fourwheelsteer]

At last, can't believe no-one thought to build a station when building the rest of the site.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Indeed fourwheelsteer. Another example is Reading FC / London Irish RFC's Madejski Stadium is a good 2 miles from the town, and the Basingstoke line runs right alongside. I'm sure it would benefit massively from a station for the surrounding industry and retail areas too; it has been proposed for as Reading Green Park, knocked back about 5 years because of funding issues.

 

[SS4]

Do we know if it'll be part of the WMPTE area? I'm guessing it would be

 

[tec]

We are not allowed to call it the Ricoh Arena during the Olympics!

 

[John55]

At last, can't believe no-one thought to build a station when building the rest of the site.

How does a football crowd or equivalent from a concert fit onto the current service on this line?

 

[The Planner]

It doesn't, the plan is to turnback specials at the new station to/from Coventry as additions to the new service. The current service outside any events would double as part of the overall scheme.

 

[dvboy]

Do we know if it'll be part of the WMPTE area? I'm guessing it would be

Should be, as it's within Coventry.

Coventry Telegraph seems to suggest it'll be called Coventry Arena.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

At last, can't believe no-one thought to build a station when building the rest of the site.

They did, but like everything on that branch it has been delayed by a decade of people squabbling about who is going to pay for it. There are quite a few threads on this forum about various parts of the NUCKLE line, and while the upgrade on the Nuneaton to Coventry stretch is more than welcome (I think the service is going to be made more frequent too, isnt it?) the line really does need to be fully upgraded through Kenilworth and onto Leamington Spa. Sadly I think that is donkeys years away yet.

It doesn't, the plan is to turnback specials at the new station to/from Coventry as additions to the new service. The current service outside any events would double as part of the overall scheme.

That seems a shame really. It's only five or six minutes to Nuneaton from there and it makes just as much sense (to me at least) to send the train there as to spin it at the Arena. It might put 15 minutes or so on a round trip but it might be worth it as Nuneaton also offers decent connections to London and Birmingham, plus to Leicester which is close enough to Coventry for people to be attracted to the Arena (probably more for music than sports admittedly) and of course the people of Nuneaton & Bedworth who also use the Arena.

Any idea of the platform lengths at the stations once the upgrade is complete btw? Nuneaton and Coventry are fine but hopefully Bedworth gets improved and the new stations can take four or six coaches.

 

[The Planner]

3 car at Bedworth, Ricoh is 6 if i recall.

 

[DarloRich]

I was there yesterday for the womens Olympic football. A nice ground and a good atmosphere.

We arrived by train from MK and were met by a fleet of shuttle buses that had us into the ground in less than 10 minutes. Would a train have been any quicker?

It is called the City of Coventry Stadium for the duration of he Olympics but Coventry Arena seems a sensible name for the station. Not sure how many people will use it out of season mind

 

[John55]

Is the HLOS announcement for electrification etc actually compatible with the existing improvements planned on this line?

Clearly there was no point in trying to cope with a football crowd with an hourly shuttle with a class 153. However with the route to be electrified and presumably rebuilt in other ways is it a case of back to the drawing board to do something which will be rather better?

For example is it likely to stay a single track line or be re-doubled?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It is double already isn't it?

 

[matt]

It is double already isn't it?

Yes, Coventry to Nuneaton is two tracks throughout (Coventry to Leamington is single track in places)

 

[John55]

It is double already isn't it?

Yes, Coventry to Nuneaton is two tracks throughout (Coventry to Leamington is single track in places)

Not very clever considering I had just been reading one of the 2009 reports on the Coventry City Council website describing problems with the Murco terminal with access only from the Coventry bound line and no access from the other line!

Perhaps the question I should have asked is - with the upgrade as a freight route between Coventry & Nuneaton will there be a need for a longer new platform at Coventry (to avoid using a through line for the "shuttles") and to rebuild access to the Murco terminal (if it is still open).

 

[The Planner]

New loop for the tanks to run round at Three Spires as they won't be able to do it at Coventry once the new bay is in. Nothing gets changed at the terminal as it would need Murco to spend cash on extending the sidings as the current train is split and propelled in.