Dangerous Levels of Air Pollution at Birmingham New Street.

[daodao]

This would also need DC-AC conversion of Basingstoke-Bournemouth, which has been kicked very far into the long grass.

Conversion would not be needed if dual-mode AC/DC EMUs were used, as is done for the service from the Southern Region to Milton Keynes.

Difficult. The ATW service by this route struggles to find a path across Crewe at present, and will be subject to disruption for several years from whatever they do with Crewe Hub. Even bypassing Newport this is going to greatly extend journey times between Manchester and Bristol or beyond.

The existing Crewe station will be freed up by HS2. The alternative would be dual mode diesel/electric units running Manchester-SW England via Birmingham, which use the overhead electrification as far as Bromsgrove.

Another very large electrification scheme which would have to go to the back of the queue. Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury might be a better bet.

Yes, but Bristol-Derby should eventually be electrified. Electrification to Shrewsbury would be of limited value as it would mean wiring Shrewsbury station and the through Birmingham-Wales trains would still have to be diesel.

As another thought, how much longer would the "fast" Worcester/Hereford trains take if they went via Kidderminster into Snow Hill? There could perhaps be some Worcester-Bromsgrove shuttles in the peak to connect with Cross-City.

The route via Kidderminster is slow and roundabout; it is used by 1 tph, but it desirable to retain 1 fast hourly train from Worcester to New St, in part to retain connectivity from Worcester/Hereford to the rest of the network.

 

[The Planner]

There are several ways to reduce the problem, some of which are planned.

All services to Walsall could be electric once the line from Walsall to Rugeley is electrified.

Completed in Dec 2017 if it doesn't fall behind (which it doesn't look like)

Acceleration of electrification of the spine route Coventry-Oxford-Basingstoke would enable XC trains from Manchester to Bournemouth.

Unlikely to happen at all in the next couple of control periods.

The remaining XC train from Birmingham to Manchester should be run an LM electric unit, with some through services from Manchester to the West Country reinstated via the N&W main line through Church Stretton.

What happens to Cheltenham? and you are now adding at least one new terminating train at New St.

Stopping trains east from Shrewsbury should terminate in the bay platform at Wolverhampton.

Cannot be done as there isnt the track to do it, and what about the connectivity to Birmingham? They now have to change? no chance of happening.

The existing Crewe station will be freed up by HS2.

Not until 2033, HS2 trains will stop at Crewe from 2027 until then.