The Norton curve is approximately 400m from the Parkway station site so it’d be a bit of a walk! The station could have been built on the west side of the Bham-Bris line which would have made it slightly closer, but there’s no good road access so you’d of had to build a new road too. The present site plugs into the B4084 which is a main road-it’s the downgraded A44 Worcester-Evesham road.
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Worcestershire Parkway station progress
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The Norton curve is approximately 400m from the Parkway station site so it’d be a bit of a walk! The station could have been built on the west side of the Bham-Bris line which would have made it slightly closer, but there’s no good road access so you’d of had to build a new road too. The present site plugs into the B4084 which is a main road-it’s the downgraded A44 Worcester-Evesham road.
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Not sure it has a good service to encourage use to be honest. Hourly service to Cardiff but only two hourly on the return. Two hourly to New Street but hourly on the return. A hotch-potch on the GW axis. Not exactly useful.
In the case of the XC route due to some freight paths (as previously mentioned).
Weekends on the XC axis seem much better.
In the case of the XC route due to some freight paths (as previously mentioned).
Weekends on the XC axis seem much better.
The GWR service from the point the station opens until the new GWR timetables come into effect at the end of the year is a case of doing the best they can to serve Parkway on the basis of the current Cotswold Line timetable and the need to get trains through the single-line section between Norton junction and Evesham promptly.
Once the new timetable starts, the overwhelming majority of Cotswold Line services will call at Parkway.
The Planner
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Its the Cross City to Bromsgrove that causes the issues, freight is negligible down there.
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In that case whats different on Saturdays compared to SX off peak? Why the gaps on SX but not Saturdays?
The Planner
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They leave Gloucester earlier on the weekends so the gap is there.
It's 400m track to track, so a station built in the south-western corner would have reduced that distance considerably.
Woodbury Lane comes off the B4084, you'd then need to get under/over the Cotswold line.
Seems daft to serve only 2/3 of the rail lines that are right there, & what will always be a lot less than 2/3 of the actual train services.
The station that has been built has cost a lot of money already, without needing road bridges, and as the current GWR Malvern/Worcester-Cheltenham/Gloucester service only runs every couple of hours it would scarcely be worth the effort putting platforms on the west to south curve and long walkways to get to and from the various platforms - it's not some West Midland version of Shipley that we're talking about.
What is actually needed to make the station more useful, and improve XC's services generally is, of course, higher-capacity trains on its routes south-west of Birmingham, allowing a far better service to be provided on the low level platforms in the long run.
Totally agree with what Jimm says here (although *hopefully* Worcester-Bristol will go hourly before too long).
Regarding road access, although Woodbury Lane is there, there would be more significant planning issues regarding traffic (than the current site). The site as built feeds directly into the B4084 and most traffic heading to south Worcester (eg Saint Peter the Great) will take this road and then the A44 and onto the SLR (A4440). If the station was built as you’ve suggested you’d need to force the traffic coming out of the station to turn right (across traffic) onto Woodbury Lane to get to the B4084. Modelling traffic flow and times would suggest it would be quicker to turn left and go through Norton so you’d run into problems with traffic flow etc here.
Plus you’d also still need to remodel the Woodbury Lane-B4084 junction as well-further cost!
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Here's an idea for a Bristol platform by means of a new chord closer to the new station with access via the mooted additional down platform on the Cotswold route, relocated to the west of the intersection bridge. The platform might also be used for some WM terminators from the Worcester direction.
Yes indeed. Highways would have had kittens if anything like that had been suggested to them.
For what that lot would probably cost, you could get CrossCountry a good few extra trains...
So, the new station has cost at least £22m.
If that had been spent on the existing infrastructure in Worcester, what would it have achieved?
Could it have unlocked funding from the city council, & NR?
Could those works have led to XC having services via Shrub Hill?
If that had been spent on the existing infrastructure in Worcester, what would it have achieved?
Could it have unlocked funding from the city council, & NR?
Could those works have led to XC having services via Shrub Hill?
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I'm disinclined to believe that improvements to the Worcester triangle would persuade XC to divert services to Shrub Hill. Even considering only the Cardiff-Nottinghams, there's currently a 20min penalty for diverting through Worcester - there are a number of constraints outside of Worcester such as the slow line-speeds at junctions in Droitwich and at Stoke Works Jct., not to mention the single line stretch there. I'm not familiar with costs but I imagine addressing these would blow the £22mi budget.
Except £8.3 million came from the LEP (local enterprise partnership) and another significant chunk (from the Council) was funded based on recouping (a loan) from car parking tickets. Neither of these funding avenues would be available for fixing the existing triangle.
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Sorry if this is not related to the current topic of conversation, but:
I've just found this on RealTimeTrains. It shows trains stopping at Worcestershire Parkway, but according to Wikipedia the station is supposed to open on the 22nd and I've haven't heard anything. Both GWR and XC trains seem to be calling there. The times of arrival and departure are exactly like what you'd expect for a station stop.
Any help with as to what is happening here greatly appreciated. GWR aren't selling tickets to Worcestershire Parkway yet, but trains are stopping there.
-Peter
I've just found this on RealTimeTrains. It shows trains stopping at Worcestershire Parkway, but according to Wikipedia the station is supposed to open on the 22nd and I've haven't heard anything. Both GWR and XC trains seem to be calling there. The times of arrival and departure are exactly like what you'd expect for a station stop.
Any help with as to what is happening here greatly appreciated. GWR aren't selling tickets to Worcestershire Parkway yet, but trains are stopping there.
-Peter
Are you sure?
Do you mean according to a contributor to a Wikipedia article?
We do ask that all external sources are linked to and quoted from (please use the quote button under the "+" menu to generate quote tags).
Note that Wikipedia isn't a primary source; Wikipedia requires contributors to provide references; a list of these can be found at the bottom of each article.
Thanks
Still no sign of fares in the fares data feed, but when they are released I suggest a new thread be created for that (as happened with the Halton Curve) as it's a whole topic in it's own right.
The only caveat for that is I am sure RDG will be looking closely to see if any anomalies are identified on here. If any anomalies are divulged that offer particularly good value to customers, they could even be fixed before anyone has a chance to even use them!
They aren't yet!
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Glenn1969
Established Member
It's actually the Worcestershire Parkway station page on National Rail that says the station is scheduled to open on 22nd June. Wikipedia just says 2019
The stops are timetabled in ready for when the station is complete, but nothing is stopping there yet. I'd guess that it'll be a few more months before passenger services start.
On Real Time Trains the times and the station name will be shown in bold when the station has opened and services are intended to stop. Hope that helps.
On Real Time Trains the times and the station name will be shown in bold when the station has opened and services are intended to stop. Hope that helps.
Ok. I'll quote things from now on. I consider Wikipedia to be a very good source of information.Are you sure?
Do you mean according to an contributors to a Wikipedia article?
We do ask that all external sources are linked to and quoted from (please use the quote button under the "+" menu to generate quote tags).
Note that Wikipedia isn't a primary source; Wikipedia requires contributors to provide references; a list of these can be found at the bottom of each article.
Thanks
Still no sign of fares in the fares data feed, but when they are released I suggest a new thread be created for that (as happened with the Halton Curve) as it's a whole topic in it's own right.
The only caveat for that is I am sure RDG will be looking closely to see if any anomalies are identified on here. If any anomalies are divulged that offer particularly good value to customers, they could even be fixed before anyone has a chance to even use them!
They aren't yet!
Another thread for fares would be a good idea. If anyone does find any anomalies, don't post them on here in that case!
We should be allowed a good deal.-Peter
The Wikipedia article for "Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange" (the article for the stations) says the 22nd:
The reference is the National Rail Enquiries website though.
-Peter
It's not intended to be used as a primary source though; youngsters are taught not to trust anything on Wikipedia that isn't properly referenced these days.
I am happy to share them at forum events/meals, fares workshops etcAnother thread for fares would be a good idea. If anyone does find any anomalies, don't post them on here in that case!
I don't think train companies would see some of the better 'deals' out there in quite that way
Exactly. So it's NRE saying that, not Wikipedia
It's not going to happen on that date. NRE probably should remove that date and just say "Later in 2019; date to be announced" or similar.
OK. I thought that something like that may be the case, but I wasn't sure. I can't wait for the station to open as it will provide an easy way for me to get around the country solely by rail.
-Peter
OK. I wasn't told about not trusting Wikipedia. I just use it because for every person who posts rubbish on there there are hundreds who post intelligent content.It's not intended to be used as a primary source though; youngsters are taught not to trust anything on Wikipedia that isn't properly referenced these days.
If I find anomalies I share them at forum events/meals, fares workshops etc
I don't think train companies would see some of the better 'deals' out there in quite that way
Keep "Them" (with a capital T) guessing as to where you're sharing your deals! Clever.
Fair - that's why I think we need nationalisation - the railways being run for the sake of being railways, not a profit. But that's a story for another day.
-Peter
There's lots to read on this subject, so please forgive me if similar questions have been asked before.
Can somebody please tell me if I'll benefit in any way from this station?
I live on the Western suburbs of Worcester, 7 miles from Worcestershire Parkway station and and I don't drive a car.
Using my bicycle, I can reach Foregate Street station in just over 10 minutes, and Shrub Hill station in about 15 minutes. But this new Worcestershire Parkway station is 35 to 40 minutes away from me, using my bicycle.
Yes, if I can bike the 14-mile round trip to this station, I can get direct trains to Cardiff and Nottingham. But wouldn't I still be better off sticking to using Foregate Street / Shrub Hill, and changing at Cheltenham going South, and Birmingham New Street going North?
Will there be enough frequent trains going from Foregate Street / Shrub Hill to Worcestershire Parkway, and if so, will they be timed so that there's a decent connection time at Parkway, say a 5 or 10 minute wait?
Personally, I'd like to see the long-distance XC trains stop there. Is it ever going to happen that Worcestershire Parkway will see services to Plymouth, Manchester, Newcastle and Scotland?
I see journey times of 35 minutes quoted from Worcestershire Parkway to Birmingham. Is this including stops at Bromsgrove and/or University? Either way, it doesn't seem much of an improvement in journey time given the fact there are currently trains from Shrub Hill to New Street taking as little as 38 minutes.
I can see it will benefit greatly the passengers who can drive their cars to this station, or those who live nearby. Also, I can see it'll make other Worcester to Birmingham trains less crowded, perhaps. But for me, will I ever see the benefit of it?
Can somebody please tell me if I'll benefit in any way from this station?
I live on the Western suburbs of Worcester, 7 miles from Worcestershire Parkway station and and I don't drive a car.
Using my bicycle, I can reach Foregate Street station in just over 10 minutes, and Shrub Hill station in about 15 minutes. But this new Worcestershire Parkway station is 35 to 40 minutes away from me, using my bicycle.
Yes, if I can bike the 14-mile round trip to this station, I can get direct trains to Cardiff and Nottingham. But wouldn't I still be better off sticking to using Foregate Street / Shrub Hill, and changing at Cheltenham going South, and Birmingham New Street going North?
Will there be enough frequent trains going from Foregate Street / Shrub Hill to Worcestershire Parkway, and if so, will they be timed so that there's a decent connection time at Parkway, say a 5 or 10 minute wait?
Personally, I'd like to see the long-distance XC trains stop there. Is it ever going to happen that Worcestershire Parkway will see services to Plymouth, Manchester, Newcastle and Scotland?
I see journey times of 35 minutes quoted from Worcestershire Parkway to Birmingham. Is this including stops at Bromsgrove and/or University? Either way, it doesn't seem much of an improvement in journey time given the fact there are currently trains from Shrub Hill to New Street taking as little as 38 minutes.
I can see it will benefit greatly the passengers who can drive their cars to this station, or those who live nearby. Also, I can see it'll make other Worcester to Birmingham trains less crowded, perhaps. But for me, will I ever see the benefit of it?
You’ve answered your own question here: No.
But it’s not really intended for passengers such as you. You live on the opposite side of Worcester and, as you only use a bike, this means it a) takes longer to get to Parkway and b) you don’t have to worry about parking in central Worcester. If you could only get to a station by driving, it might be a different matter.
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You may benefit for a while in that there may be slightly fewer passengers on the Birmingham services in central Worcester.
SephenWorceste
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Cycled over on Sunday to see how it was going. The first photo is looking from the main entrance. Still a lot of work to be done on the car park. The second photo is from a side entrance and show the high level Cotswold line platform. I believe that is not opening in the first phase. Time will tell how useful this station will be. For me it is potentially a good move. Plenty of parking but it does depend on which trains stop at the station.
Best wishes, Stephen.
diffident
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Blimey, work there really is coming on at a pace!
PHILIPE
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There is already a thread here:-
www.railforums.co.uk/threads/worcestershire-parkway-is-go.103108/page-16#post-4046215v
www.railforums.co.uk/threads/worcestershire-parkway-is-go.103108/page-16#post-4046215v
SephenWorceste
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