Henwick signal box - closure?

[robintw]

My mother is a member of a local history group in Worcestershire, and they're apparently planning a talk on some signal boxes locally, and say it is particularly timely because of the impending closure of Henwick signal box.

I can't find any information online about it closing - and I can't see how or why they would close it without closing all of the mechanical boxes in the area and transferring control to a ROC. I know this is supposedly scheduled to happen sometime, but last I heard it wouldn't be for ages.

Does anyone have any further information, or is this group talking nonsense?

 

[John Webb]

My mother is a member of a local history group in Worcestershire, and they're apparently planning a talk on some signal boxes locally, and say it is particularly timely because of the impending closure of Henwick signal box.

I can't find any information online about it closing - and I can't see how or why they would close it without closing all of the mechanical boxes in the area and transferring control to a ROC. I know this is supposedly scheduled to happen sometime, but last I heard it wouldn't be for ages.

Does anyone have any further information, or is this group talking nonsense?

According to "The Encyclopaedia of 21st Century Signal Boxes" (Michael Rhodes, Platform 5 Publishing, 2019) the original 2010 Network Rail master plan did not have Henwick closing until 2048! With all that's been going on in the past year, and before, there have been major changes to the 2010 plan, so I think it unlikely that this box will be closing at any time in the near future.

 

[The Planner]

Henwick will go when Worcester gets done, thats still a good 6-7 years away yet.

 

[Elecman]

When it ( and the others ) close they will go to West Midlands SCC not Rugby ROC

 

[John Webb]

When it ( and the others ) close they will go to West Midlands SCC not Rugby ROC

Presumably this one of the recent alterations in NR's plans not to go all the way to ROCs only but to use a wider range of centres, in the same way that West Hampstead on the MML is to remain operational (with updates) rather than the area being moved to the East Midlands ROC at Derby.