Recent content by Batman

What about the proposed tunnel under Birmingham city centre to divert the cross city line away from New Street? I think the tunnel would have run from just south of Aston to Five ways with deep level platforms at New Street and Five Ways station being re-built in a new alignment. There may...

Thank you. There’s a lot of potential for some of these new services to have big reliability problems. Also the Birmingham to Rugeley late evening services are worse than they are now. The last Rugeley service leaves New Street at 2147, half an hour earlier than now. There’s then an hour...

Are the timings/stopping patterns/frequencies from Birmingham to Rugeley much different compared to the current timetable? And where did you get that information from? I couldn’t find anything that far ahead on Real Time Trains.

Thank you. Seems odd having Hanstead as the only stop between New Street and Walsall. I remember in the early 2000’s there being some odd stopping patterns in the morning peak, like one service running non stop from Bloxwich to Hednesford and Rugeley only getting 1 train to Birmingham before...

Upon closer inspection, the timetable booklet stated ‘Norton Bridge Station Drive’ as a calling point, not the actual station. So it appears that they’ve simply failed to remove it from the timetable and are treating it as a random additional bus calling point that they’ve bothered printing in...

Thank you. We’re there any peak extras back then and what was the evening service like? My earliest memories of the line are from about 1996. I think that was about the time that Birmingham - Walsall semi fasts started running and Walsall got a 4tph service. For many years it was always the...

Surely this must beg the question; is this station actually closed?

I’ve recently seen a video on YouTube that was filmed at Bescot in October 1992. It shows a northbound Class 150 arriving at the station with its destination stated as ‘Hednesford via Walsall’. I always thought that during the early years of the Chase Line after its reopening it was only served...

Does anyone know why Norton Bridge has still been included in the timetable booklet for the new London North Western timetable when the station officially closed in December last year and the funding for the bus service runs out in March 2019 (during the lifetime of the new timetable)?

Apparently the footbridge at Landywood station was not closed to the public until two weeks after the wires went live, even though the reason the bridge needs replacing is because it’s not suitable for an electrified railway. The complaint from Great Wyrley Parish Council was focused on the...

Platform extensions are still under construction.

About the same time that rail services in Walsall reached a low point. The Birmingham - Walsall service was cut to 1 tph at one point, about the time Walsall station was re-developed when the shopping centre was built above it.

Haven’t commented on her firva while, but I must say I’m disappointed with the new fencing that’s gone up on the platforms at Bloxwich and Landywood. All the stations north of Walsall have needed redevelopment for years now and I thought the electrification and platform extension work would...

Twin track cantalivers have gone up over the tracks leading into platform 3 at Walsall as well. The old 1960’s OHLE between Walsall and Bescot is being replaced. There’s still a small amount of work to do north of Ryecroft. The contact wires at Landywood and Bloxwich station are still being...

West Midlands Franchise: Cross City line: 6tph to Lichfield TV Monday to Saturday daytimes, 4tph evenings and Sunday’s. Duddeston and Shenstone to get 3tph Monday to Saturday and 2tph evenings and Sunday’s with services calling at one of the other. Later last train from Birmingham to Lichfield...