The revised West Midlands rail strategy.

[Stephen Lee]

I have just looked at the revised West Midlands rail strategy. I wondered apart from those mentioned in the document, are there any possible suggestions.
Also a shuttle to Ironbridge is also being suggested. I wondered what station in the Shrewsbury line will the shuttle terminate at.

https://wmre.org.uk/media/pbuhz13p/west-midlands-rail-investment-strategy-consultaton-draft.pdf

 

[Bletchleyite]

"New station: Polesworth Parkway"? What's wrong with adding a bridge and car park in the field on the existing one?

Don't think it'll be popular without a direct Brum service though.

 

[The exile]

"New station: Polesworth Parkway"? What's wrong with adding a bridge and car park in the field on the existing one?

Don't think it'll be popular without a direct Brum service though.

Depends what flow it’s intended as a parkway for, I suppose.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Depends what flow it’s intended as a parkway for, I suppose.

Good question. Not to Birmingham I guess... It is very near the M42 but with no junction, is a J10A perhaps being proposed? If so, it'd be right by the station, parkway for Tamworth maybe?

Edit: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/n...stations-nuneaton-warwick-university-16611956

Polesworth Parkway would be located close to the A5 and M42 as part of "significant housing development in the area".

I guess potentially where the B5000 crosses the railway so there's direct access from the A5/M42 without going through the village. I guess by then Polesworth would be larger and would include that location. However from a bit more random Googling it doesn't look set in stone other than the mention of the B5000.

 

[Stephen Lee]

Good question. Not to Birmingham I guess... It is very near the M42 but with no junction, is a J10A perhaps being proposed? If so, it'd be right by the station, parkway for Tamworth maybe?

Edit: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/n...stations-nuneaton-warwick-university-16611956



I guess potentially where the B5000 crosses the railway so there's direct access from the A5/M42 without going through the village. I guess by then Polesworth would be larger and would include that location. However from a bit more random Googling it doesn't look set in stone other than the mention of the B5000.

I wondered where will the Ironbridge shuttle terminate, will it be to Wolverhampton or to Wellington(Salop)

 

[Roast Veg]

Ambitious timetables for some pretty targeted infrastructure interventions, looks a bit too good to be true to me.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wondered where will the Ironbridge shuttle terminate, will it be to Wolverhampton or to Wellington(Salop)

One assumes Wellington. If it was going to Wolves it might as well go to New St. I guess they possibly have Revolution VLR in mind for it, else you might as well build heavy rail and portion work the Shrewsbury once an hour.

 

[Stephen Lee]

One assumes Wellington. If it was going to Wolves it might as well go to New St. I guess they possibly have Revolution VLR in mind for it, else you might as well build heavy rail and portion work the Shrewsbury once an hour.

In the document there are plans for reversing the beeching cuts in West Midlands

development of new rail corridors – such as Walsall - Lichfield, working with our partners to consider the potential for expansion of both existing and closed rail routes

further development of the West Midlands Metro and other Rapid Transit options - particularly where expansion of heavy rail capacity may no longer be possible

I wondered if West Midlands Metro have extension plans or are there any non-heavy rail projects in West Midlands in the future?

 

[adrock1976]

Looking at Pages 54-55, I noticed that reference is made to the reopening of Kingsbury station, which I believe that is (or was) one of the many items on the lengthy shopping list that Warwickshire CC published a while ago.

Also, the reopening at Bromford Bridge (for The Fort) and Castle Bromwich, plus Stourbridge - Walsall - Lichfield - Burton are not new proposals as these have been aspirations since at least the second half of the 1980s when I was still residing in the West Midlands.

The proposal for more trains at International was already mentioned in the 2013 report. I am unsure how that would work bearing in mind there is presently a freight path via Coventry to and from Bescot Yard (this was the exact same report that had a proposed post HS2 Manchester Pic - Heathrow Airport via Coventry and Reading every 30 minutes, which seems crazy).

A station at Gailey Common is mentioned - I am unsure of exactly where that is as I have never heard of that place name before (I have heard of Gailey Interchange, which is a road junction between Wolverhampton and Stafford not far from Featherstone Prison).

 

[Pemberton]

Galley Common, a suburb of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, refers to the potential reopening of the former Stockingford Railway Station.

 

[The Planner]

Looking at Pages 54-55, I noticed that reference is made to the reopening of Kingsbury station, which I believe that is (or was) one of the many items on the lengthy shopping list that Warwickshire CC published a while ago.

Also, the reopening at Bromford Bridge (for The Fort) and Castle Bromwich, plus Stourbridge - Walsall - Lichfield - Burton are not new proposals as these have been aspirations since at least the second half of the 1980s when I was still residing in the West Midlands.

The proposal for more trains at International was already mentioned in the 2013 report. I am unsure how that would work bearing in mind there is presently a freight path via Coventry to and from Bescot Yard (this was the exact same report that had a proposed post HS2 Manchester Pic - Heathrow Airport via Coventry and Reading every 30 minutes, which seems crazy).

A station at Gailey Common is mentioned - I am unsure of exactly where that is as I have never heard of that place name before (I have heard of Gailey Interchange, which is a road junction between Wolverhampton and Stafford not far from Featherstone Prison).

Its all just another rehashed wish list, with some bonkers train service levels wanted, nothing else. As for Gailey Common, a quick Google search would have told you its on the outskirts of Nuneaton.

 

[Roast Veg]

Its all just another rehashed wish list, with some bonkers train service levels wanted, nothing else. As for Gailey Common, a quick Google search would have told you its on the outskirts of Nuneaton.

But parts of this wishlist form the strategy for passenger connections between HS2 and South Wales/South West England via Moor Street, no?

 

[diffident]

Castle Bromwich (for the Fort Shopping Centre) would be way to far out of the way, even if they did it in the late 90's when the centre opened. It would have had to have been at the old Bromford Bridge station site, or a new site underneath the M6 as it passes by the Fort Parkway road.

My understanding, having grown up on the Bromford Estate, is that the management of the Fort Shopping Park when it was built, was that they didn't want easy access from the Bromford Estate - to, would you believe, reduce the risk of theft from stores.

 

[The Planner]

But parts of this wishlist form the strategy for passenger connections between HS2 and South Wales/South West England via Moor Street, no?

Yes, and that probably has the best chance of any of it, along with P4 at Snow Hill. The stuff to the east and frequency uplifts are real fag packet stuff.

 

[Roast Veg]

Yes, and that probably has the best chance of any of it, along with P4 at Snow Hill. The stuff to the east and frequency uplifts are real fag packet stuff.

What about the Nuneaton avoider? That's been floated a few times now.

 

[The Planner]

What about the Nuneaton avoider? That's been floated a few times now.

Fag packet. We haven't even got NUCKLE over the line properly, let alone thinking about that.

 

[TrainTrackJack]

Interesting about supposed line improvements between Worcester and Hereford, especially the electrification to Great Malvern. Without significant work to the tunels at Colwall and Ledbury, the wires cannot be continued through - or could they wire everything else then rely on battery through the tunnels?

Rushwick Station as well! Mooted about a re-opening in the 80s as a Parkway for Worcester, dropped, and now come nearly full circle - a new parkway station has been built and Rushwick is in consideration again.

 

[Stephen Lee]

Yes, and that probably has the best chance of any of it, along with P4 at Snow Hill. The stuff to the east and frequency uplifts are real fag packet stuff.

Also Birmingham Moor Street-Oxford Service. Wondered which toc will be interested in that

 

[Bletchleyite]

Also Birmingham Moor Street-Oxford Service. Wondered which toc will be interested in that

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/

 

[Stephen Lee]

Also It has been mentioned that Shrewsbury line and SHL may be electrified. And also the no. of Class 730/0 order has been increased. Anyone have ideas if it is for preparation of Shrewsbury line and SHL electrification?

 

[The Planner]

Also It has been mentioned that Shrewsbury line and SHL may be electrified. And also the no. of Class 730/0 order has been increased. Anyone have ideas if it is for preparation of Shrewsbury line and SHL electrification?

There is nothing to prep for as it isn't a scheme.

 

[Stephen Lee]

There is nothing to prep for as it isn't a scheme.

Also, the plan of extra capacity in CrossCountry routes by acquiring Class 222s from EMR is mentioned. At the same time, some TOCs that still have HSTs like GWR, Scotrail have an intention to replace the surviving members of the class. I wondered if XC will do the same thing knowing that the HSTs are getting older and older and there are extra Class 221s available from Avanti West Coast after being replaced by Class 805s and 807s. Therefore, with those surplus Class 221s from AWC and Class 222s from EMR, XC can replace the aging HSTs and at the same time, strengthen services, provide extra capacity and save maintenance cost, win-win-win.

 

[The Planner]

Also, the plan of extra capacity in CrossCountry routes by acquiring Class 222s from EMR is mentioned. At the same time, some TOCs that still have HSTs like GWR, Scotrail have an intention to replace the surviving members of the class. I wondered if XC will do the same thing knowing that the HSTs are getting older and older and there are extra Class 221s available from Avanti West Coast after being replaced by Class 805s and 807s. Therefore, with those surplus Class 221s from AWC and Class 222s from EMR, XC can replace the aging HSTs and at the same time, strengthen services, provide extra capacity and save maintenance cost, win-win-win.

As I said above, its a strategy/wish list. None of it is guaranteed to happen at all.

 

[Stephen Lee]

There is nothing to prep for as it isn't a scheme.

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

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Dec 2022 ==

As I said above, its a strategy/wish list. None of it is guaranteed to happen at all.

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.

 

[Energy]

Also It has been mentioned that Shrewsbury line and SHL may be electrified. And also the no. of Class 730/0 order has been increased. Anyone have ideas if it is for preparation of Shrewsbury line and SHL electrification?

Its a west midlands wish list rather than a scheme, they list their top priorities as Snow Hill to Worcester and Nuneaton to Birmingham/Walsall.

Shrewsbury is in the just-electrify-everything-(bar the Stourbridge shuttle) list. Easy pickings like NUCKLE would likely come first.

 

[Llandudno]

Never going to happen, let’s just focus on trying to get Cross Country to revert to the 30 minute pre Covid frequency and introduce longer trains as soon as possible- that should be the priority!

 

[CentralTrainer]

Interesting about supposed line improvements between Worcester and Hereford, especially the electrification to Great Malvern. Without significant work to the tunels at Colwall and Ledbury, the wires cannot be continued through - or could they wire everything else then rely on battery through the tunnels?

Rushwick Station as well! Mooted about a re-opening in the 80s as a Parkway for Worcester, dropped, and now come nearly full circle - a new parkway station has been built and Rushwick is in consideration again.

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…

 

[bleeder4]

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.

It's in the middle of nowhere at the moment but the South Worcestershire Development Plan will build thousands more homes in Rushwick. The new station is planned to support that future development. It will also be a useful P&R for anyone coming from that side of the river, probably quicker than facing the traffic into town and over the bridge.

 

[Stephen Lee]

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

 

[ShadowKnight]

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

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