Two new stations: Bermuda Park and Coventry (previously Ricoh) Arena

[thenorthern]

Just looking apparently Coventry to Nuneaton will be electrified in 2017 which would mean electric traction on there.

 

[Philip Elliott]

No idea, its all driven by Cov council, but that doesnt deliver any connectivity whatsover towards Nuneaton so is pretty useless.

Apologies for my lack of clarity but this option is just for the football/ event traffic. The planned crossover is just for shuttles to Cov and not Nuneaton isn't it so no difference...

 

[The Planner]

No, it looks this way because the original scheme has been split in two due to funding and rolling stock issues. If it was going to be done as originally planned then the bay platform, run round crossing (which also allows the turnbacks) and bi di for the Murco train plus the stations would have all been done at once to allow the 2tph so a platform on the old colliery branch was never an option.

 

[LesF]

Ricoh is a sponsor and sponsors come and go, so Ricoh should not be in the title. Nor should the station be called Coventry (something) because that would cause endless confusion. "I'll meet you at Coventry station". " "Which one?" The best name may be Arena Coventry. It would be known locally as Arena station. There are other arenas but there are other universities and only one University station.

 

[mr_jrt]

Ricoh is a sponsor and sponsors come and go, so Ricoh should not be in the title. Nor should the station be called Coventry (something) because that would cause endless confusion. "I'll meet you at Coventry station". " "Which one?" The best name may be Arena Coventry. It would be known locally as Arena station. There are other arenas but there are other universities and only one University station.

Nonsense. Having the same prefix means the stations will be next to each other when sorted alphabetically, giving you easy grouping on TVMs et al. for free. London managed just fine with 8(!) Acton stations (Acton Town, Acton Mainline, Acton Central, Acton Green, North Acton, East Acton, West Acton, South Acton, and even places like Watford managed with 4 (Watford North, Watford Junction, Watford High Street, Watford West).

Coventry Arena pales in comparison.

 

[edwin_m]

Surely "Coventry Arena" can't be any more confusing than "Birmingham International"?

 

[LesF]

Station name. Ricoh is a sponsor and sponsors come and go, so Ricoh should not be in the title. Nor should the station be called Coventry (something) because that would cause endless confusion. "I'll meet you at Coventry station". " "Which one?" The best name may be Arena Coventry. It would be known locally as Arena station. There are other arenas but there are other universities and only one University Station.
Stock. The enhanced service can't run until stock is released by current electrification schemes. This could be diesels or electric stock if the upgrade coincides with electric spine. Given the delays and increased costs of current schemes, this could be a long time.
On the plus side, what's the chance of football/rugby specials? A lot of Wasps supporters will want to travel from London and High Wycombe to the Arena. There will be spare paths on the Chiltern line on Sundays. The train could stand on the Keresley branch during matches, or could it stand at Nuneaton where there is a turnback facility? Is there suitable stock available?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
mr jrt, all your Acton examples are unique names. The name Coventry station is well established so a new station called Coventry (something) would cause confusion. That's what happened at Warwick when Warwick Parkway was built. Warwick should have been renamed Warwick Town or some other unique name, but the disfunctional rail hierarchy at the time missed the chance.
Edwin, when I commuted Cov-Brum I was often asked by visitors when we reached International, "Is this Birmingham?" and I had to explain that this was for the airport and the NEC and if they wanted the city of Birmingham, stay on the train. It's normal practice for an airport to use the name of the city it serves even though it's outside the city. Birmingham airport has dropped "international" from its name and Virgin proposed changing the name to Birmingham Airport. If HS2 is built, the bizarre station originally called West Midlands Interchange but now referred to as Birmingham Interchange, will cause more confusion. I suggest Birmingham Airport and Birmingham High Speed, even though neither are in Birmingham. What do members think?

 

[The Planner]

Its only the Airport that has pushed for the station name and they arent prepared to cough up for it so that is just going to fester.

 

[Class 170101]

Why not just call the Ricoh Arena Station City of Coventry Stadium Station? Yes a mouthful but will always be correct regardless of the name if the Stadium. Remember thats what the stadium was called during the Olympics.

 

[bluenoxid]

Call it Coventry Arena or Coventry Phoenix Way!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Its only the Airport that has pushed for the station name and they arent prepared to cough up for it so that is just going to fester.

I still think it makes sense as I have seen confused passengers. In its day it was probably fine, but "International" now much more significantly means "main station with international train services" - it is neither.

It should be IMO "Birmingham Airport <suffix>for the NEC</suffix>". Or possibly "Birmingham Airport and NEC".

Neil

 

[The Planner]

Which is where the problem is, there is squabbling with the NEC over who goes first on the sign as they were there first. This one has been done to death on another thread recently anyway.

 

[adrock1976]

How about Bickenhill for Birmingham Airport, NEC, and National Motorcycle Museum?

In peace

Adam

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[thenorthern]

Although Birmingham International Airport has changed its name to just Birmingham Airport I still think Birmingham International is the best name for the station simply because lets face it its a major station and has been called that for so long and its what people are used to.

Back for the 3 years from 2003 to 2006 when East Midlands Airport was named Nottingham East Midlands Airport if East Midlands Parkway station had opened in this time I wonder if they would have named it Nottingham East Midlands Parkway. I know this was off topic but I remember how much the people from Derby moaned so much about it being renamed if mentioning the "Correct" name Nottingham East Midlands Airport was said they would get so angry.

 

[Geezertronic]

Going by its postal address, Birmingham NEC would be more accurate if not actually correct

 

[Deerfold]

Back for the 3 years from 2003 to 2006 when East Midlands Airport was named Nottingham East Midlands Airport if East Midlands Parkway station had opened in this time I wonder if they would have named it Nottingham East Midlands Parkway. I know this was off topic but I remember how much the people from Derby moaned so much about it being renamed if mentioning the "Correct" name Nottingham East Midlands Airport was said they would get so angry.

No, because East Midlands Parkway is not named after the airport. It's a Parkway station in the East Midlands and was not designed as a station to serve the Airport.

 

[giblets]

The Ricoh sponsorship deal is said to end in 2015 (though it may be renewed), so that name could be a no-no. No one seems to have noticed that London wasps rugby team now own 50% of the stadium, whilst the hair gel game team are merely tenants at the stadium.

 

[MK Tom]

Is there anywhere I can get photo updates of the construction of these stations?

 

[bussnapperwm]

Couldn't they call it Arena Coventry or Coventry North?

 

[nuneatonmark]

Progress on the new stations following my trip on the Nuneaton to Coventry line yesterday.

New Bermuda Park station. Some ground clearance and access road in place, but not a lot else
Bedworth. Footings dug out for platform extension.
Arena Park. Lots of activity here. Most of the ground clearance and access appears to be have been completed, looks about ready for start of foundations etc
Coventry. No progress expected yet and none observed.

 

[The Planner]

Nothing is planned for Coventry yet, its just the new stations for the minute.

 

[NSE]

Due to some of the pettiness of
People claiming potential confusion between another station with Coventry in (shock horror), I'm gonna throw it out there that I expect to see confused Coventry fans at Arena tram stop in Croydon

 

[nuneatonmark]

Just been past site of new stations at Bermuda Park and Arena Park, both still just basically 'holes in the ground', seems a bit tight now to get these completed before they are due to be opened ready for May timetable change.

 

[giblets]

According to the Nuneaton news, most of the work is being done at night, ending 25th January, presume then more of the visible work can be done in normal hours:

http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Night-time-work-place-rail-upgrade/story-25832086-detail/story.html

 

[swt_passenger]

I see the local rag still thinks the trains will eventually run to Leamington...

 

[TSR :D]

I see the local rag still thinks the trains will eventually run to Leamington...

Well, it could happen. Current trains from Nuneaton arrive at Coventry xx:34 and leaves to go back to Nuneaton at xx:42. The timing could be tweaked slightly so freight goes in front of the Nuneaton train and doesn't occupy platform #2. Let's say the train arrives at xx:42. VT train comes in platform 3 and leaves at xx:42. This train will have little over 5 minutes to leave from the platform to Leamington Spa once VT train leaves.

Assuming the train takes 15 minutes to get to Leamington spa, 10 minutes for a break (ignore this if using another train) and 15 minutes to get back. The train could arrive in Coventry just after xx:02 VT train leaves for New St. It'd give this train little over 5 minutes to leave from the platform.

Obviously, reliability-wise, extending Birmingham New St. to International/Coventry to Leamington Spa would be better.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

You've got to account for disruption to the down main too, it's what, 6tph from Rugby to Birmingham and crossing to the Leamington branch will affect those.

 

[The Planner]

Aaaaagh, they wont be doing Nuneaton Leamington any time soon! It doesnt work across Cov. The only way Kenilworth is going to get served is by a shuttle service between Leamington and Cov and the timetable for that has already been worked out.

 

[TSR :D]

I meant it was a possibility, although it's bad idea anyway. Is there a specific reason why it's not preferable to extend the New St. to International/Coventry stoppers to Leamington Spa? As far as I know, there's 1 spare path between International and Coventry and if necessary, stopping pattern in existing services could be changed to accommodate an extra train.

Is the timetable for the shuttle service publicly available?