Kenilworth station Opened 30th April 2018

[InOban]

Apparently opens on April 30th.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Apparently opens on April 30th.

Where did that information come from?

 

[Andrewh32]

Where did that information come from?

It's being reported as such on the BBC news website & the local weekly paper in Kenilworth but what the source is for them to report that date is I don't know and how true it is who knows

 

[bspahh]

It's being reported as such on the BBC news website & the local weekly paper in Kenilworth but what the source is for them to report that date is I don't know and how true it is who knows

https://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/news/date-set-for-opening-of-kenilworth-station/ has the quote:

County council joint managing director Monica Fogarty said: “I am pleased to say that Warwickshire County Council and West Midlands Trains have agreed that Kenilworth Station will come into service on Monday April 30. More details will follow regarding timetables and ticketing as soon as it becomes available.”

The station could "come into service" on April 30th, even if it doesn't get a regular service. This page says that the timetables are loaded for West Midlands Trains until June 1st on the journey planner. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/servi...l.co.uk&utm_medium=Carousel&utm_campaign=T-12
The journey planner doesn't show anything if I search for a trip from Kenilworth to Warwick on May 24th.

 

[bluenoxid]

County Council website is probably the source.

http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2018/04/20/kenilworth-station/

Monica Fogarty, Warwickshire County’s Joint Managing Director, has issued the following statement.


“I am pleased to say that, today, Warwickshire County Council and West Midlands Trains have agreed that Kenilworth Station will come into service on Monday 30th April. More details will follow regarding timetables and ticketing as soon as it becomes available.”


ENDS

Note to editors: Monica will be happy to do interviews next week when more detail is available.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

County Council website is probably the source.

http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog/2018/04/20/kenilworth-station/

Monica Fogarty, Warwickshire County’s Joint Managing Director, has issued the following statement:-
“I am pleased to say that, today, Warwickshire County Council and West Midlands Trains have agreed that Kenilworth Station will come into service on Monday 30th April. More details will follow regarding timetables and ticketing as soon as it becomes available.”

Considering there is only one week to go, matters regarding both timetables and ticketing seem to be very tardy in information.

 

[Smethwickian]

Also unhelpful that nationalrail.co.uk - supposedly the authoritative source of public info - still says no services exist.
The journeys seem to be on Realtime Trains' site okay, and there will be some further clues in West Midlands Trains' timetables from 20 May, now on its website at https://www.westmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travel-information/timetables - Kenilworth is in pocket leaflet number 10.

But on the whole, a very poor performance from the county council which seems to have been totally out of its depth. Maintaining a stony wall of silence for the past few months is utterly undemocratic and unaccountable and if reports are true that campaigner and Rail magazine contributor Fraser Pithie has been banned from contacting councillors or officials just because he's been trying to get answers on behalf of local voters and taxpayers, then that is disgraceful.

 

[PHILIPE]

All the parties involved should be dragged into a room together and have some heads banged together

 

[bluenoxid]

Considering there is only one week to go, matters regarding both timetables and ticketing seem to be very tardy in information.

To be fair, these matters (particularly fares) have usually not been sorted on the day of opening for a number of recent openings.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

To be fair, these matters (particularly fares) have usually not been sorted on the day of opening for a number of recent openings.

To say that such matters have not been sorted out on the day of opening, when passengers will be expected to tender correct fares for their journey, beggars belief.

 

[Kite159]

I suspect for fares from the south it will end up in the Leamington Spa cluster, and for fares from the 'north' it will end up in the Coventry cluster.

But I wonder if it will be included in the gold card area

 

[jeremyjh]

It’s surrounded by Gold Card area and will exclusively be served by an operator on whose services Gold Card discounts are available. Fingers crossed.

 

[Kite159]

It’s surrounded by Gold Card area and will exclusively be served by an operator on whose services Gold Card discounts are available. Fingers crossed.

How long did it take for London Midland to add Coventry Arena & Bermuda Park to the database for Gold Card stations? (i.e. you could buy a gold card discounted ticket to Bedworth/Nuneaton from Coventry but not to either the new stations for the first few months)

 

[sufian123]

It’s snowing on RTT now Kenilworth Station services without going into more details. Does anyone know what class will be operating the new services.

 

[swt_passenger]

153 according to many earlier posts in this thread.

 

[sufian123]

153 according to many earlier posts in this thread.

Thanks

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It’s snowing on RTT now Kenilworth Station services without going into more details

Knowing of the hiatus concerning the opening date, from what you say above, it most probably will be "the wrong type of snow"....

 

[Mugby]

Well we all remember what happened when Coventry Arena opened for use - they advised people to travel by bus on match days.

Probably the best solution for Kenilworth too. 'The station is now open but there aren't any services so we advise you to travel by bus'

 

[sufian123]

Knowing of the hiatus concerning the opening date, from what you say above, it most probably will be "the wrong type of snow"....

Typo sorry about that

 

[Hadders]

I suspect for fares from the south it will end up in the Leamington Spa cluster, and for fares from the 'north' it will end up in the Coventry cluster.

But I wonder if it will be included in the gold card area

When Coventry Arena and Bemuda Park opened Gold Card discounts weren't set up despite both stations physically being in the Gold Card area. It only got sorted after I got into some extensive dialogue with London Midland.

 

[jeremyjh]

NRE now has fares and journeys. It's not, however, possible to book tickets yet using any site I've found. And, surprisingly, no Gold Card discount fares are shown.

 

[Kite159]

Yet the slightly silly thing is that the gold card discount applies to Leamington Spa/Coventry tickets according to BR Fares, although at the moment you can't actually use it due to the block on XC north of Banbury.

(Personally I suspect when I visit next Friday I will pay extra for a non-gold card discounted ticket as timings work out better using XC services from Leamington towards Reading, should get me home roughly an hour earlier)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Is all ready for the opening with a service provision tomorrow?

 

[IainG81]

Looks like the first service will be at 06.15 to Coventry

 

[HLE]

Back on topic, the first service into Kenilworth should be arriving now....

 

[bluenoxid]

First train has arrived and departed.

 

[Sheddyone]

Greetings from a long-term lurker. Quite a crowd, judging by this Twitter pic.
https://twitter.com/Fradgie/status/990841795499216896?s=09

 

[boxy321]

I excitedly saw this depart Coventry platform 4 at around 0720 this morning, and wondered why it was empty! It disappeared around the corner towards Leamington.

Of course, it had moved out of the way for the XC 0727 towards Brum,

 

[InOban]

Isn't it time someone changed the title of this thread?!

 

[jeremyjh]

Not many posts today regarding this, so here's some updates and observations:

• The service is now running. My (northbound) VT Pendolino train manager announced the availability of the connection on arrival at Coventry.
• Tickets are sold from the café at Kenilworth - there is no ticket office as such. Not all destinations and discounts have yet been loaded into the system, which is a shame given the extended notice period available to WMT and others by virtue of the delayed opening.
• If There's a TVM at the station, I didn't find it. Likely not installed yet. Edit: It seems enabled for ToD too...
• Kenilworth is shown and announced at Coventry as you'd expect.
• The 153's CIS does not seem to know about Kenilworth yet, though.
• WMR's printed timetable booklet lists all services between Coventry and Leamington Spa, XC as well as the Kenilworth shuttle, giving times to/from Birmingham New Street. It also shows the last service from Birmingham from which a connection can be made to each Leamington-bound train.
• The platform destination board at Kenilworth is in the newer style but is still lit orange, not white as has appeared in some places.
• VT gateline staff at Coventry were enjoying the novelty of tickets to Kenilworth. They're normally pretty grumpy so this was an unexpected surprise.
• The service I took had around 20 passengers ex Coventry (early afternoon), with about a third of those enthusiasts. A dozen or so alighted at Kenilworth. Slightly more boarded for Leamington.
  
• The timetable connects very well with the VT service for Euston from Coventry. Arrival times at Leamington make for a poor connection with CH services towards Marylebone but are well-timed for journeys towards Solihull and Moor Street.