My proposal for extension of Birmingham City Line to Alrewas

[evergreenadam]

I would interested to know thoughts on extending the Birmingham City Line further north from its current terminus at Lichfield Trent Valley to a reopened station at Alrewas which could serve both the village and the National Memorial Arboretum which has around 300,000 visitors a year. Significant new housing development is expected in the Alrewas and Fradley ward of Lichfield DC.

Obviously an extension of electrification would be required along the freight line, but would stop short of the Burton-Tamworth line junction.

Is there a significant market for commuter traffic to Birmingham or is it too far north?

 

[The Planner]

Has been considered for a good while and the original thoughts were, and still are i believe, to go to Burton. It is still years away though and would be hugely dependant on those developments happening.

 

[Harbon 1]

It probably won't get extended, to Burton especially, until the wires go up on the XC route, which I don't even think has been planned yet. The station at burton would probably need its bay put back in at the southern end because the traffic through there is pretty intense.

I suppose it depends on the timetable and the stock available. at the minute it seems a case of could a unit run to Alrewas and back to Trent Valley before it is timetabled to go back towards Birmingham. It could also be seen that there is a pretty good half hourly service to Burton from Birmingham anyway, although Alrewas is an interesting idea.

 

[Class 170101]

I would suggest it if Derby to Birmingham is wired in future years that the line east of Lichfield Trent Valley is wired first, as this has fewer services and is then used as a diversionary route whilst the route through Tamworth is completed.

 

[40129]

FWIW the current turnaround time at LTV is 5-6 minutes daytime and 15 minutes during the evening so extending the Cross City Line to Alrewas or Burton, desirable as it would be, would require at least one extra train.

Ideally, if the line were to be extended to Burton, it should have its own dedicated track to the west of the current formation between Wichnor Junction and Burton to avoid creating conflicting moves

 

[The Planner]

What on earth for? It isnt as though Burton would get 6tph extended out.

 

[GingerSte]

FWIW the current turnaround time at LTV is 5-6 minutes daytime and 15 minutes during the evening so extending the Cross City Line to Alrewas or Burton, desirable as it would be, would require at least one extra train.

Ideally, if the line were to be extended to Burton, it should have its own dedicated track to the west of the current formation between Wichnor Junction and Burton to avoid creating conflicting moves

That would be 4 or 5 miles long, and cost a fortune! All to save one conflicting move. Plus, unless you made it double track you'd only have capacity for one train north of Lichfield TV at any one time, and that would be worse.

If you're definitely going to terminate at Burton, you'd be better off creating a bay platform in between the existing (on the very wide island that you've got at Burton).

I would imagine a more likely scenario is extending some of the trains to Derby, and missing out some/most of the smaller stops. If you left the smaller stops between New Street and Sutton Coldfield to the truncated Four Oaks service (with its handy third platform for reversing), then this would speed up your service. This would leave you with (for example)

• Birmingham New Street
• Sutton Coldfield
• Four Oaks
• Butlers Lane
• Blake Street
• Shenstone
• Lichfield City
• Lichfield Trent Valley (1 TPH terminating)
• Alrewas (if built)
• Barton Under Needwood (personally speaking, I think this could do with a station for local services, if they could be squeezed in between XC)
• Burton on Trent (1 TPH terminating)
• Derby (1 TPH terminating)

This would have the added benefit of giving the population of that line a route to the wider East Midlands, Yorkshire and North East without having to go via Birmingham.

 

[edwin_m]

Limited stop sounds a good idea, as the saving in journey time might start to make a dent in the number of people who pile onto XC between Burton and Birmingham.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Yes, agreed: plus the occasional Willington stop as well. Not sure how easy it would be to interweave slows and semi-fasts along the Cross-City, though.

 

[Kettledrum]

Limited stop sounds a good idea, as the saving in journey time might start to make a dent in the number of people who pile onto XC between Burton and Birmingham.

Yes - lots of people use XC between Burton and Birmingham. The XC train stops at Tamworth only (and occasionally Wilnecote) - as there are no other stations on the route.

Surely the journey times on the suggested line through Alrewas and Lichfield would be much longer, even if it only stops at Alrewas and Lichfield, so why would commuters from Burton use it.

Perhaps the line south staffs line should be rebuilt so you could travel Burton - Alrewas - Lichfield - Walsall. Now that would create far more new journey possibilities.

 

[455driver]

What is the point of a stopping service not stopping at the stations?
Coonfused dot com.

 

[causton]

What is the point of a stopping service not stopping at the stations?
Coonfused dot com.

Let's face it, you could speed up the service from Penzance to Paddington by only stopping at Reading en-route for those very important commuters, and nowhere else. Save a lot of time and hassle really!

 

[GingerSte]

Limited stop sounds a good idea, as the saving in journey time might start to make a dent in the number of people who pile onto XC between Burton and Birmingham.

I'm not sure you'd get a huge amount of people transferring from the XC services to the Cross City line. Even with semi-fast services, I would imagine that the express XC services would be a lot quicker. You might see some movement from the slower XC services that stop at all stations.

Most of the patronage (I reckon) would come from passengers in that area to Burton, Derby and Nottingham. There may also be an increase in passengers on Cross City due to improved timings (due to missing some stops) making rail more attractive than road. You would also have the Alrewas and Barton Under Needwood passengers, if these stations were opened.

Yes, agreed: plus the occasional Willington stop as well. Not sure how easy it would be to interweave slows and semi-fasts along the Cross-City, though.

I have to admit, I had forgotten Willington. It does seem like an idea for the services to Derby, though.

Yes - lots of people use XC between Burton and Birmingham. The XC train stops at Tamworth only (and occasionally Wilnecote) - as there are no other stations on the route.

Some XC trains call at Tamworth only, and some call at Burton only. I travel between Birmingham and Leeds quite often. The trains I get usually call at Burton heading north and Tamworth heading south.

Perhaps the line south staffs line should be rebuilt so you could travel Burton - Alrewas - Lichfield - Walsall. Now that would create far more new journey possibilities.

I think I mentioned that in an earlier thread. It would also serve Brownhills. I'd also suggest a station at Pelsall.

What is the point of a stopping service not stopping at the stations?
Coonfused dot com.

I've never called it a stopping service. The aims of my previous suggestion were:
1) Decrease journey times for the more northerly stations on the Cross City Line
2) Provide a link between places like Sutton Coldfield and Burton/Derby (and beyond) without having to go through Birmingham
3) Provide stations at Alrewas and Barton Under Needwood
4) Limit adverse effects (or even create capacity) for people south of Sutton Coldfield by keeping at least 3 stopping services to Four Oaks.