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West Midlands franchise changes in Stoke-on-Trent area revealed.

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thenorthern

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Just been sent these two articles from the local newspaper in Stoke-on-Trent.

Plan to reopen closed Wedgwood or Barlaston railway stations back on

CAMPAIGNERS look set to win their fight for trains to be reintroduced at one of two stations.

The Government is inviting bids from operators to reinstate rail services at either Wedgwood or Barlaston stations.

It comes after a petition calling for the reopening of Barlaston Station was submitted to the Department of Transport.

Now Tory minister Paul Maynard has written to Stone MP Sir Bill Cash setting out plans for improvements for passengers using the West Midlands franchise.

It reads: “We have received requests to reinstate rail services where a replacement bus is currently in operation, this has been predominantly at Barlaston and Wedgwood.

“We are asking bidders to develop proposals and costs to reinstate rail services at either Wedgwood or Barlaston stations."

Technically Barlaston is still an active train station – despite no trains having stopped there since the West Coast Mainline was modified in 2003. It has instead been served by replacement buses to Stone.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/plan...ions-back-on/story-29669124-detail/story.html

Alsager, Kidsgrove and Stone to lose direct rail link to London Eustion

Three towns are set to lose their direct trains to London – as a rail franchise is put out to tender.

Alsager, Kidsgrove and Stone are all currently served by a direct London Midland Service – which starts at Crewe and terminates in the capital's Euston Station.

However, due to the length of the platforms at those stations, trains from Crewe will bypass all three, and Stoke-on-Trent, and travel directly to Stafford.

Passengers from the four stations will now have to change trains at Stafford to get to London – although those getting on in Stoke-on-Trent will still have the option of catching the faster, but more expensive, Virgin Trains.

Alsager, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent and Stone will instead be served by a new service between Crewe and Birmingham and Wolverhampton - under plans announced by the Department for Transport on Tuesday.

The changes, which are set to take place from October 2017 when a new operator takes over the franchise, have caused disappointment in the affected communities.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/alsa...ndon-eustion/story-29673565-detail/story.html

Not sure what to think about it though as to me having a Stone to Birmingham train is more important than having a Stone to London train.

I don't think its a good idea to re-open Wedgewood or Barlaston stations as they are unlikely to get a large number of passengers. To me one in Trentham to serve Trentham and the Bet 365 stadium would make more sense.
 
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LNW-GW Joint

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It is of course nor true that Virgin are "more expensive" than LM.
The Any Permitted fare is the same on both operators.
Sure, there are cheap Advances and specific fares on both, but they are in a minority.

I can see the DfT's reluctance to reopen any of the three stations, but Barlaston would have the best case I think.
Through London trains are largely irrelevant when there are long stops at Stafford anyway.
Norton Bridge is still in the "too hard" category - DfT is still considering what to do.
As I read the timetable rules on p65 of the ITT, there is scope for one more train Stafford-Stoke-Crewe, but not called for in the service spec.
 

evergreenadam

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Just been sent these two articles from the local newspaper in Stoke-on-Trent.



Not sure what to think about it though as to me having a Stone to Birmingham train is more important than having a Stone to London train.

I don't think its a good idea to re-open Wedgewood or Barlaston stations as they are unlikely to get a large number of passengers. To me one in Trentham to serve Trentham and the Bet 365 stadium would make more sense.

Agree that it seems pointless to spend money to reopen Wedgewood or Barlaston with such low passenger potential. A new station on the A5035 to serve Trentham would indeed be a good idea, it would serve a vast residential hinterland to the south of Stoke stretching across to Longton and Meir and would not be too far from Barlaston village. Such a location would be quite a walk to the Bet 365 stadium but the opportunity of daily commuter traffic rather than weekly stadium traffic would offer a much better return on the capital cost of the new station.
 

thenorthern

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Agree that it seems pointless to spend money to reopen Wedgewood or Barlaston with such low passenger potential. A new station on the A5035 to serve Trentham would indeed be a good idea, it would serve a vast residential hinterland to the south of Stoke stretching across to Longton and Meir and would not be too far from Barlaston village. Such a location would be quite a walk to the Bet 365 stadium but the opportunity of daily commuter traffic rather than weekly stadium traffic would offer a much better return on the capital cost of the new station.

Problem is any station would likely only be served by the hourly Birmingham to Crewe service which for commuters wouldn't be much use when there is the a regular bus service to Trentham from Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent city center) every 10 min.

Strange question but given that Barleston and Wedgewood stations closed in 2003 for the upgrade and then reopened a for a short time but then closed again in 2004 when the Central Trains paths were needed for something else how much would it cost to reopen them?

From what I can see they would need to replace the kerbstone things on the edge of the platform, the lighting would need to be replaced, both platform would need to be wheelchair accessible, shelters would need replacing, signage would need updating, information boards would need installing. We could be talking about several million pounds.
 

Class 170101

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Is Polesworth still served by one train on weekdays southbound only?

Would it be viable for extra services?
 

Baxenden Bank

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Is Polesworth still served by one train on weekdays southbound only?

Would it be viable for extra services?

The single service is northbound.

No point in extra services if they are only in one direction, unless there is some demand for people stopping off en-route then returning south without stopping at Polesworth. Not entirely daft though, as I often do a country walk from one station to another. So if Polesworth were, say, in the Peak District, then stops in one direction only would not be entirely useless.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Problem is any station would likely only be served by the hourly Birmingham to Crewe service which for commuters wouldn't be much use when there is the a regular bus service to Trentham from Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent city center) every 10 min.

Strange question but given that Barleston and Wedgewood stations closed in 2003 for the upgrade and then reopened a for a short time but then closed again in 2004 when the Central Trains paths were needed for something else how much would it cost to reopen them?

From what I can see they would need to replace the kerbstone things on the edge of the platform, the lighting would need to be replaced, both platform would need to be wheelchair accessible, shelters would need replacing, signage would need updating, information boards would need installing. We could be talking about several million pounds.

Presumably, as the stations are technically still open, any reinstatement costs would be borne by Network Rail, as soon as someone wished to call there. In the same way that unused but technically open lines see sudden bursts of activity by the orange army when there is a hint of someone wanting to run a train up the line! I am thinking of the Stoke to Cauldon branch (pre lease to Moorland City Railway) when there was talk of freight trains returning to the quarry in 1999.

The question is, do London Midland pay the annual charge to Network Rail for the long term maintenance of the station?
 

miami

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Problem is any station would likely only be served by the hourly Birmingham to Crewe service which for commuters wouldn't be much use when there is the a regular bus service to Trentham from Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent city center) every 10 min.

Commuters to Stoke perhaps, but commuters to Stafford, Crewe and Birmingham?
 

thenorthern

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Presumably, as the stations are technically still open, any reinstatement costs would be borne by Network Rail, as soon as someone wished to call there. In the same way that unused but technically open lines see sudden bursts of activity by the orange army when there is a hint of someone wanting to run a train up the line! I am thinking of the Stoke to Cauldon branch (pre lease to Moorland City Railway) when there was talk of freight trains returning to the quarry in 1999.

The question is, do London Midland pay the annual charge to Network Rail for the long term maintenance of the station?

Although the stations are technically open the shelters at Wedgwood have been removed and at Barlaston they have been boarded up with metal sheeting. Both stations have had the edge stones removed from the platform edges which if either station was to reopen they would need work doing to make them safe. Below is a picture of the state of the platform at Barlaston at the moment.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/abandonment/8628895200/in/photostream/

I would think as well if either station was to reopen they would need to be assessed for wheelchair accessibility and given that both stations have very narrow platforms they could easily fail the DDA act assessment.

I know this is a bit pedantic but the livery of both stations is Regional Railways which of course would need re-painting to the new franchise holder's colours as well. :D

Polesworth won't reopen. Its too close to Tamworth.

Agreed, also many of the commercial and industrial sites in Tamworth are in face closer to Polesworth Station than Tamworth Station meaning it wouldn't be worthwhile for many commuters in Polesworth to take the train into Tamworth. Many people in Polesworth also work in Birmingham which a reopened Polesworth station would be useless for.
 

evergreenadam

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Commuters to Stoke perhaps, but commuters to Stafford, Crewe and Birmingham?

Exactly, my thoughts were that it would be of most use to those living on the southern and southern eastern suburbs of Stoke intending to travel to Stafford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham or beyond on the hourly service (who would otherwise need to spend abortive time traveling by road in the opposite direction to Stoke station to access the rail network).

Agree that a new station served by an hourly frequency would never compete for a short journey into a smaller city where the bus is more frequent and stops closer to home and right in the centre of town.
 

the sniper

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I have seen references upthread mentioning Bet 365 Stadium.

Could somebody tell me exactly what that is used for?

Do you consciously object to using Google and/or Wikipedia...? :p

Stoke football club plays there.
 
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thenorthern

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I have seen references upthread mentioning Bet 365 Stadium.

Could somebody tell me exactly what that is used for?

Do you consciously object to using Google and/or Wikipedia...? :p

Stoke football club plays there.

The new "official" name for the Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent home of Stoke City. Most Stoke fans I know however still call it Britannia Stadium or The Brit.

Exactly, my thoughts were that it would be of most use to those living on the southern and southern eastern suburbs of Stoke intending to travel to Stafford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham or beyond on the hourly service (who would otherwise need to spend abortive time traveling by road in the opposite direction to Stoke station to access the rail network).

Agree that a new station served by an hourly frequency would never compete for a short journey into a smaller city where the bus is more frequent and stops closer to home and right in the centre of town.

An interesting idea, railways in The Potteries are rather poor compared to most urban areas with only 3 of the 6 towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent are served by anything (Stoke Town, Longton and Burselm which is served by Longport) and the main town Hanley isn't served by anything neither is Newcastle-under-Lyme so more trains would be an advantage in the city.
 

adrock1976

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What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
Thanks for clarifying.

I thought it was a new stadium recently built in the Potteries region.

I remember when Stoke City left Victoria Park, the new stadium was called Britannia Stadium.

As you can tell when it comes to football grounds, I do not recognise all this corporate bo11ocks that goes on nowadays. For example, Arsenal's present ground is officially called Ashburton Grove, as that what the planning documents submitted to Islington Council were at the time, and also me not recognising the branding of the stadium by an organisation that has vested interests in a government that I had no part in electing/legitimising that has an appalling human rights record.
 
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