Midlands Rail Hub scheme plans

[G0ORC]

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/rail-spending-electrification-derby-birmingham-1761849

As usual with any government proposal - very short on any actual detail on how this would be achieved. No cost estimates and a timescale so far in the future that most will have forgotten it ever existed in a few months.

Just something to distract from the GTR/Network Rail and the Northern shambles (I notice the sound-bite "powerhouse" seems to have been dropped quietly now.

Since you are likely to get bombarded with pop-ups on the Derby Telegraph site, here is what it says.....

An ambitious plan to increase hourly train trips between Derby to Birmingham and create six million extra rail journeys in the Midlands has been welcomed by an industry expert.

The 20-year scheme has been announced by Government Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and economic development organisation Midlands Connect, who say it is aimed at boosting the region’s economy by £649 million and improving speed and ease of travel from east to west.

The plans, put forward as part of the Midlands Rail Hub scheme, would include increasing hourly services between Derby and Birmingham from four to six and doubling the number of trains per hour between three routes from Birmingham, to Nottingham, Leicester and Hereford.

There are also plans to reinstate a direct service between Coventry and Leicester.

Also in line are proposals to shift 4,320 lorries a day, currently transporting freight via the road, onto the rails, to dramatically ease congestion and save millions of pounds.

Rail analyst Sim Harris, the managing editor of Rail News, said: “There has been a need to improve travel east-to-west in the Midlands for a long time, we have a habit of gearing everything towards London.
“This plan is potentially welcome news, and these are worthy aspirations, if the funding can be identified, it is good progress and about time we stopped pointing towards London.

“East to west travel is also needed in other areas of the UK, north of London, such as Manchester through to Leeds and York.

“They are quite right about freight and the route from Coventry to Leicester is also welcome news, for too long people have had to travel through Birmingham on this route.

“The plan does seem to be joined to the Derby area resignalling upgrade.”

Some examples of how journey times could be reduced include a 19-minute reduction for Nottingham to Birmingham, down to 50 minutes; 24 minutes off the Hereford to Birmingham journey, down to an hour; and 13 minutes off the Leicester to Coventry route, which would become direct and take 35 minutes.

A further 36 new freight paths would be created per day - able to transport £22 billion worth of goods and save £74 million for the economy through shifting road freight lorries to rail.

Sir John Peace, chairman of Midlands Connect, said: “Improving east-west connectivity and access to HS2 services are top priorities for Midlands Connect.

“The Midlands Rail Hub proposals can bring our great towns and cities closer together and accelerate the massive job creation we’re seeing all over the region.

“The potential to greatly increase the amount of rail freight running through the region is also a big opportunity to make the most of the released capacity from HS2 and reduce the amount of freight on our already-congested roads.”

He said: “These proposals capture the extraordinary economic potential and ambition of the Midlands Engine – focused on driving forward growth, creating new jobs and delivering better journeys for passengers across the region. This is why the Government has invested £5m to help develop the Midlands Rail Hub.”

Midlands Connect is a collaboration of councils and local enterprise partnerships working together to improve the region’s economy.

The Midlands Engine, similar to Midlands Connect, works to bring together councils, local enterprise partnerships, universities and businesses, to draw investment to the region.

Mr Grayling continued: “It is excellent to see Midlands Connect are committed to maximising the significant benefits to connectivity and capacity HS2 offers, as well as ensuring we capitalise on the biggest modernisation of the rail network since the Victorian era.”

 

[HLE]

Leicester to Coventry direct won’t happen due to cost. That’s my thought on it anyway. Besides - even at peak times it wouldn’t fill a single 153. It’s a popular connection made at Nuneaton but 20-30 people an hour in the peaks will need a lot more switching to rail to make it worth it.

All it needs is good connection times at Nuneaton.

 

[Smethwickian]

As usual with any government proposal - very short on any actual detail on how this would be achieved. No cost estimates and a timescale so far in the future that most will have forgotten it ever existed in a few months.

The document this all comes from is here https://www.midlandsconnect.uk/media/1176/midlands-connect-ar-v18_final_web.pdf which contains lots of other ambitious ideals about motorways, trunk roads, smart ticketing etc.
Midlands Connect (not to be confused with the West Midlands Rail Executive quango or the West Midlands Combined Authority quango) seems like yet another directorship-creating regional talking shop full of grand ideas, unfinanced recommendations and sweeping statements about bringing local government and business together, transforming the Midlands, blah blah blah. And as G0ORC says, very short on practical detail, timescales or indications as to who might actually pay for any of it.
It's nice to have ambitions, but sometimes you wonder how much further on we might be if the amount of time, effort and money spent on all these committees, studies and reports had actually just been given to rail operators and Network Rail to get on with things.

 

[Aictos]

Doubling the number of trains between Leicester and Birmingham? It already sees a 2tph service with 1tph extended to Stansted Airport so hopefully a end result will see the long awaited extension of that hourly service to half hourly least as far as Cambridge.

 

[Old Hill Bank]

Has anyone worked out how they can do Birmingham to Hereford in an hour?
Link to the full documentation below.
https://www.midlandsconnect.uk/publications

 

[driver_m]

So how are they proposing to not stitch up the WCML with this Cov-Leicester service. Direct connection going underneath the Neutral section?

 

[ivanhoe]

What I wonder is the demand for Leicester to Coventry? 2 buses an hour taking anything from 1.2 hours to 2 suggests most traffic between the Cities is by car . Unless they build an underpass a la PUG2 then this direct train ain't gonna happen.

 

[ashworth]

he South

What I wonder is the demand for Leicester to Coventry? 2 buses an hour taking anything from 1.2 hours to 2 suggests most traffic between the Cities is by car . Unless they build an underpass a la PUG2 then this direct train ain't gonna happen.

For a number of years from about 1985, following the introduction of the first Class 150 sprinters, there was an hourly service. I don’t remember for how many years it ran but I think it was Lincoln - Nottingham - Leicester - Nuneaton - Coventry. I certainly remember on a number of occasions using it for journeys from Nottingham to Southampton changing at Coventry. I think quite a few passengers from Nottingham and Leicester travelling to Oxford, Reading and the South Coast used it to change at Coventry rather than BirminghM New Street. In those days there were only a couple of through trains a day from Derby to the South Coast, but quite a few more from Manchester and Birmingham. Therefore Conventry was a useful place to change trains, especially for less experienced travellers who wanted to avoid Birmingham New Street.

 

[cle]

What are the additional Birmingham-Derby and Nottingham services to be?

 

[Class172]

Has anyone worked out how they can do Birmingham to Hereford in an hour?
Link to the full documentation below.
https://www.midlandsconnect.uk/publications

You're not the only one left pondering… running non-stop with a clear route all the way wouldn't even achieve that I would imagine!

 

[pt_mad]

Leicester to Coventry direct won’t happen due to cost. That’s my thought on it anyway. Besides - even at peak times it wouldn’t fill a single 153. It’s a popular connection made at Nuneaton but 20-30 people an hour in the peaks will need a lot more switching to rail to make it worth it.

All it needs is good connection times at Nuneaton.

Totally agree. The group would be better off putting efforts into campaigning for more trains per hour Leicester to Birmingham and more trains per hour Nuneaton to Coventry. And to pressure for construction to begin on the Coventry bay platform.
They could also pressure for the idea of running from the Derby lines into Moor Street as has been proposed and try and hurry that up to allow x more capacity per hour from the East Midlands.

Basically if there were 3 train s per hour Leicester to Birmingham, and 3 trains per hour Nuneaton to Coventry then the worst connection is going to be 20 minutes in theory and the best could be as little as 5 minutes minimum connection time. Which i'm guessing would be quicker than a reversal in order to do it direct anyway.

Does the document state how they propose reinstating a direct Leicester to Coventry service? I.e. are they talking about reinstating point work at Nuneaton for cross over on the level? Are they proposing a reversal on the Birmingham lines just south west of Nuneaton Station to go back onto the Coventry lines? Or are they talking about a new tunnel under the WCML or using an old one which has been mentioned but speculated previously to have insufficient clearance and possibly an electrical substation in the way?

 

[The Planner]

The Bordesley chords do not give you enough for all the planned trains from the eastern side, you would need something fairly substantial at Water Orton too.

 

[XCTurbostar]

It’s more likely that the point works are re-introduced south of nuneaton. But then again, there’s too much at risk on the west coast and a 1tph crossing to Coventry is likely to screw up at least 4 West Coast paths.

 

[LeeLivery]

I'm guessing Northamptonshire chose not to be part of this? It seems incredible for a midlands "growth county". Northants has the worst social mobility rate in the country, incredibly expensive rail fares, only 6 stations and some of the most irritating MPs in the Tory party - then again that explains a lot .

 

[XCTurbostar]

I would be very surprised if Nuneaton South Junction and the entire WNS route didn’t get remodelled/ resignalled out of this. I just hope they’re looking at all options.

 

[pt_mad]

Could only see the point work at Nuneaton being reinstated after HS2 phase one is in operation though. I.e. started in 2026. How could they viably cross the WCML flat in each direction even once an hour?

I did notice this story re West Midlands Connect was on the ITV East Mids news at six yesterday. A representative from Midlands Connect was asked about the up to several hundred million pound price tag for their proposals. The representative said the benefits for the economy of circa 600 million pounds would far outweigh the costs and they hoped parties would not focus only on the initial cost.

Could be wishful thinking as surely the money would be better spent making sure the GWML is fully electrified to Bristol Temple Meads first when masts have already been erected close to Bath and left!

 

[DDB]

What are the additional Birmingham-Derby and Nottingham services to be?

This is pure speculation on my part but I wonder if they are proposing adding some Nottingham-Birmingham services that bypass Derby using the route planned for the Derby blockade? Would that produce the advertised reduction in fastest Nottingham to Birmingham times?
DDB

 

[XCTurbostar]

If they do introduce a fly over south of nuneaton. I think an arrangement like this is likely.

 

[whhistle]

It's a balance of political will against cost.
I can see an overpass being added, a la Tamworth high/low level rather than a dive under. - I see my geograhpy of that area isn't what I thought, so an overpass (without a reversal) wouldn't be particularly near the station. I wonder if a "roundy bit of track" after the existing Leicester - Nuneaton - Birmingham lines could work (IE, somewhere on the north side)?

The problem is they will add a polutry silly service instead of something proper.

People won't immediately switch if it's slow and rare. Make it fast and frequent from the get go and you're heading down the right path.

 

[si404]

I'm guessing Northamptonshire chose not to be part of this? It seems incredible for a midlands "growth county".

Northants is looking south/east to 'England's Economic Heartland' - something nominally covering the whole of Beds, Bucks, Cambs, Herts, Northants and Oxon (and Swindon), but really mostly about the Varsity Arc with some mention of Aylesbury, Northampton and Peterborough and token mentions of Luton.

It's basically the mates Martin Tett (the Chairman) made with the East-West Rail Consortium, and the anti-HS2 councils group (both of which he played a big part in) - with a few additions like Luton and, recently, Herts - pretending to be, and lobbying for official status as, a TfN- / Midlands Connect-style 'Sub-national Transport Body'.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Northants is looking south/east to 'England's Economic Heartland' - something nominally covering the whole of Beds, Bucks, Cambs, Herts, Northants and Oxon (and Swindon), but really mostly about the Varsity Arc with some mention of Aylesbury, Northampton and Peterborough and token mentions of Luton.

It's basically the mates Martin Tett (the Chairman) made with the East-West Rail Consortium, and the anti-HS2 councils group (both of which he played a big part in) - with a few additions like Luton and, recently, Herts - pretending to be, and lobbying for official status as, a TfN- / Midlands Connect-style 'Sub-national Transport Body'.

As and when East-West Rail is finally functioning, it will be interesting to see if train diagrams enable the Oxford - or is it Aylesbury? - to Milton Keynes trains to be extended to Northampton.

 

[si404]

As and when East-West Rail is finally functioning, it will be interesting to see if train diagrams enable the Oxford - or is it Aylesbury? - to Milton Keynes trains to be extended to Northampton.

The Strategic Rail Priorities for EEH, as of 3 weeks ago, talks about "improved north-south connectivity along the Northampton – Milton Keynes/Bletchley – Aylesbury – High Wycombe – Old Oak Common corridor". So, (IMV, oddly - though it's nice they actually notice the existence of South Bucks, and London when they often don't!) Aylesbury - Northampton direct services, rather than Oxford - Northampton.

However this has little to do with the Midlands Rail Hub scheme.

 

[Jamm]

There's two disused lines into Moor St which I presume is used for platform 5 and 6 if it ever gets reinstated but I can't see the space for platform 6? I mean the rail line into "platform 6" is quite literally at end of the boundary for Moor St with no space for the platform for the passengers to alight onto from a train.

 

[mallard]

For the improved Nottingham/Derby and Leicester - Birmingham connections, this could be an expansion of the proposal for these services to move to the West Midlands franchise from CrossCountry. Especially if they're integrated with the Hereford services to minimise additional congestion at Birmingham.

If Leicester-Coventry is reinstated then that would pretty much have to be with the West Midlands franchise.

There is the question of capacity at Leicester though; even now it's common for services to be delayed due to congestion through the station. Still, I can't think of many "category B" stations that are more in need of work (having had nothing of any significance done since the 1970s) and there's plenty of room to reinstate one or two additional tracks between Wigston Junction and Leicester...

 

[SteveT]

Does the document state how they propose reinstating a direct Leicester to Coventry service? Are they talking about a new tunnel under the WCML or using an old one which has been mentioned but speculated previously to have insufficient clearance and possibly an electrical substation in the way?

This one:
http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrns3344.htm
http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrns2729.htm
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.5213351,-1.4574248,224m/data=!3m1!1e3

Geometry's a bit tricky if trains are to call at Nuneaton.

 

[mallard]

Geometry's a bit tricky if trains are to call at Nuneaton.

Maybe by using that tunnel (which appears to still be somewhat extant on Google maps) and having the line swing north (i.e. similar to how XCTurboStar imagines a flyover) might fit? You'd only need a single line, surely?

 

[XCTurbostar]

Maybe by using that tunnel (which appears to still be somewhat extant on Google maps) and having the line swing north (i.e. similar to how XCTurboStar imagines a flyover) might fit? You'd only need a single line, surely?

Yeah your right the tunnel is still in existence but I fear that it may have been filled in at some point and used as a cable bridge. I also believe that the High Voltage Cable Route is on the Hinckley side and follows at ground level so that would need diverting. Mind you, this is all minor stuff compared to relocating an entire OLE feeder station!

I hope Midlands Connect are listening to the suggestions on this thread for this proposal, some really good ideas on here!

 

[MarkyT]

There is a small concrete culvert roughly where the the old alignment passed under the main line. It barely looks big enough for a small van let alone a train:


This later photo shows the culvert used to get a concrete cable trough from one side of the main line to the other. I think these are signalling cables. Still later images show an additional major concrete troughing route to the east of the main line, presumably carrying power system cables, but that does not go through the culvert.

I think if a route from Leicester to the down side of Nuneaton station is built it will need a completely new structure to pass beneath the WCML. Such a new connection would only needs a single track, and would provide an alternative route for trains between Leicester and Birmingham to run through Nuneaton.

 

[LeeLivery]

Northants is looking south/east to 'England's Economic Heartland' - something nominally covering the whole of Beds, Bucks, Cambs, Herts, Northants and Oxon (and Swindon), but really mostly about the Varsity Arc with some mention of Aylesbury, Northampton and Peterborough and token mentions of Luton.

It's basically the mates Martin Tett (the Chairman) made with the East-West Rail Consortium, and the anti-HS2 councils group (both of which he played a big part in) - with a few additions like Luton and, recently, Herts - pretending to be, and lobbying for official status as, a TfN- / Midlands Connect-style 'Sub-national Transport Body'.

Ah! fair enough, never heard of EEH. I googled "South Midlands" as that's often used but nothing came up. Makes sense to associate more with the home counties if they're promoting long distance commuting.

 

[cle]

On Northampton, it definitely makes sense for an E/W MKC train from Oxford (and beyond?) to run to there. It is terribly served for its size.

I wonder if Birmingham-Derby could be additional XC trains, if paths were found. And then speed some of them up - i.e Birmingham-Derby-Sheffield-Leeds only. Perhaps E/W will also lead to the diversion of an XC service up the MML towards Derby...or Notts.