Worcestershire Parkway station progress

[Envoy]

Sorry but it must have been a diversion - BR had rerouted the South Wales CrossCountry InterCity services away from the Lydney and Chepstow route to run via Bristol Parkway long before Virgin came on the scene, with the Regional Railways Birmingham-Cardiff service, worked by Class 158s, taking over, with that service, of course, initially passing to Central/Wales & Borders post-privatisation.

The BR InterCity network, as of 1993

http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/InterCity mag 93 2.jpg

And this is the Virgin XC Operation Princess network map, from late 2002, clearly showing all its South Wales services going via Bristol http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/Virgin lit 122002.jpg

.

jimm - you are wrong - I sat on a Virgin Voyager both ways on the Lydney route & they were not diversions. What happened was that with Central and Wales & Borders running services between B'Ham & Cardiff, they were skimming off passengers from the Virgins as they were often timed to be just ahead of the Voyagers. So, we had 2 coach 158's or even 150's fully loaded whilst Voyagers were just behind with plenty of spare seats - all because the public were too stupid to wait for the better train. The Voyagers would also be held up at times by the stoppers. I remember waiting outside Gloucester in a Virgin Voyager because a stopper was just ahead. We were not able to overtake the stopper until Newport. Throw in the overcrowding on the core network and the Voyagers on the south Wales run were withdrawn - including those that went via Bristol. (If they went into Temple Meads, they simply were not worth bothering with due to adding so much time v the direct Lydney route). Hence, south Wales is now a 'backwater' served by 2 or 3 coachTurbostars on the route to the Midlands with nothing going long distance to the north-east..

The situation now is all very different from that promised by Operation Princess. It just goes to show how the planners can get it completely wrong.
If you improve the trains, the timings and the number of places that are linked by through trains whilst keeping the fares reasonable, you see a dramatic increase in rail travel. In was a big mistake not to order longer/more trains for the Cross Country fleet - even though I don't like the Voyagers. Read report below:>

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmwelaf/205/2051403.htm

Reference to Virgin trains on the Chepstow route is made here:> http://onehouse.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=238&t=20338&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&view=print

 

[Noddy]

A few years ago LM ran a shuttle between Worcester and Gloucester at the hour when FGW didn't operate. It was withdrawn due lack of support.

It's not just a problem with filling in the gaps in the timetable on this route - its competing with the M5 and providing connections beyond Gloucester/Worcester. The current service is a bit of a joke. The earliest you can get to Worcester from Bristol/Yate/Cam & Dursley/Stonehouse/Stroud/Swindon is c.10.20. The 7.14 from Gloucester usually arrives early at Shrub Hill and sits there for 5 or 6 min before heading to Foregate Street where everyone actually gets off. Likewise from Pershore/Evesham to Gloucestershire is just as bad - either the really early 6.07 which get you into Gloucestershire stations just after 7, or the 7.59 which involves a 1 hour wait in Worcester! Malvern is even worse. This poor service also impacts commuting between Ashchurch for Tewkesbury and both Worcester/Cheltenham (and stations beyond).

Not only this but the route is serviced with a motley collection of refurbished and unrefurbished 150/153/156/158s, which are timetabled at a (very slow) 75mph along what is a mostly 100mph railway. Abbotswood Junction is 40mph for the Worcester line, but could easily be much faster. Sort out the stock, and improve and speed up the timetable, and there's potential for a really decent commuter route serving the towns and cities along the Severn Vale. Sadly I don't think the 165/166s are going to make much of a difference really. Especially as there is no evidence that the timetable recasts in 2017/18 will improve the frequency (see page 41). So maybe Worcester Parkway, with IEPs and Turbostars will at least be a bit of an improvement for commuters between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

Or maybe they'll just stick to the M5?!

 

[SephenWorceste]

Imagine the embarrassment on the first day of opening of Worcestershire Parkway not a single train stops.

 

[Class 170101]

It's not just a problem with filling in the gaps in the timetable on this route - its competing with the M5 and providing connections beyond Gloucester/Worcester. The current service is a bit of a joke. The earliest you can get to Worcester from Bristol/Yate/Cam & Dursley/Stonehouse/Stroud/Swindon is c.10.20. The 7.14 from Gloucester usually arrives early at Shrub Hill and sits there for 5 or 6 min before heading to Foregate Street where everyone actually gets off. Likewise from Pershore/Evesham to Gloucestershire is just as bad - either the really early 6.07 which get you into Gloucestershire stations just after 7, or the 7.59 which involves a 1 hour wait in Worcester! Malvern is even worse. This poor service also impacts commuting between Ashchurch for Tewkesbury and both Worcester/Cheltenham (and stations beyond).

Bristol Temple Meads (calling at Parkway) leaving 06:27 change at Cheltenham and arrive Worcester Foregate Street 07:58 (also calling at Shrub Hill). Now I grant you that isn't a direct train but there cannot be direct trains from everywhere to everywhere.

 

[The Planner]

Not only this but the route is serviced with a motley collection of refurbished and unrefurbished 150/153/156/158s, which are timetabled at a (very slow) 75mph along what is a mostly 100mph railway. Abbotswood Junction is 40mph for the Worcester line, but could easily be much faster. Sort out the stock, and improve and speed up the timetable, and there's potential for a really decent commuter route serving the towns and cities along the Severn Vale.

It's 30mph off a 90mph section, knocks you for a minute. Speeding that up would be a waste of time anyway unless you also sort out Norton Jn and the run in to Worcester. Considering its all of 4 miles from Abbotswood to Shrub Hill you would be wasting your time doing a lot to it to get at the very best 2 minutes.

 

[Noddy]

It's 30mph off a 90mph section, knocks you for a minute. Speeding that up would be a waste of time anyway unless you also sort out Norton Jn and the run in to Worcester. Considering its all of 4 miles from Abbotswood to Shrub Hill you would be wasting your time doing a lot to it to get at the very best 2 minutes.

I was thinking you'd do both junctions at the same time! Not quite sure where you get 30mph off 90mph-its a 40 mph junction (so actually 60mph off 100mph but as most stock is only capable of 75 is mostly 35 off a typical train). Doing it every day on my commute, I think a 2 minute reduction would easily be achieved as the train usually gets back up to a decent speed (75?) on the downhill run into Worcester.

Two minutes is a 10% reduction in journey time from Ashchurch for Tewks and a 7% reduction from Cheltenham. Etc etc. Use 100mph stock and there's another minute or three between every station from Worcester to Bristol Parkway. Cheltenham-Worcester should easily be less than 20min. And less pathing problems as all passenger trains are capable of 100 rather than using 75mph stock on a 100 mph railway.

 

[The Planner]

Will double check the sectional appendix when back at work, but I'm fairly certain Abbotswood is 30mph off the 90mph main line. Down to Worcester you have got nothing more than 70. The Western Route Study comes out soon, we will see if there is any demand forecast from it, if not its unlikely to happen. As for pathing 75mph on a 100mph railway, its not the busiest stretch of line by a long chalk with 4tph passenger and an hourly freight.

 

[jimm]

jimm - you are wrong - I sat on a Virgin Voyager both ways on the Lydney route & they were not diversions. What happened was that with Central and Wales & Borders running services between B'Ham & Cardiff, they were skimming off passengers from the Virgins as they were often timed to be just ahead of the Voyagers. So, we had 2 coach 158's or even 150's fully loaded whilst Voyagers were just behind with plenty of spare seats - all because the public were too stupid to wait for the better train. The Voyagers would also be held up at times by the stoppers. I remember waiting outside Gloucester in a Virgin Voyager because a stopper was just ahead. We were not able to overtake the stopper until Newport. Throw in the overcrowding on the core network and the Voyagers on the south Wales run were withdrawn - including those that went via Bristol. (If they went into Temple Meads, they simply were not worth bothering with due to adding so much time v the direct Lydney route). Hence, south Wales is now a 'backwater' served by 2 or 3 coachTurbostars on the route to the Midlands with nothing going long distance to the north-east..

The situation now is all very different from that promised by Operation Princess. It just goes to show how the planners can get it completely wrong.
If you improve the trains, the timings and the number of places that are linked by through trains whilst keeping the fares reasonable, you see a dramatic increase in rail travel. In was a big mistake not to order longer/more trains for the Cross Country fleet - even though I don't like the Voyagers. Read report below:>

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmwelaf/205/2051403.htm

Reference to Virgin trains on the Chepstow route is made here:> http://onehouse.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=238&t=20338&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&view=print

Fine, so there were a limited number, presumably for route knowledge purposes, just the same as a couple of XC services go for a trundle through Worcester and Droitwich to this day - but Chepstow had not been the core XC route since BR days, like I said, and Virgin didn't seem to think it was part of its core routes either - here's another map, pre-dating Operation Princess, also not showing the Chepstow route. The core VXC service to and from Cardiff under Operation Princess was every two hours, via Bristol.

http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/Virgin lit 122001.jpg

What's 'stupid' about getting on to a train going to your destination? Especially once Operation Princess began, when Virgin services were often an utter shambles. I can remember seeing three northbound 220s head out of Oxford in the space of 15 minutes one evening in late 2002, not one of them at or near to time. And presumably it wasn't the fault of Central/W&B how the paths had been arranged via Chepstow.

 

[PHILIPE]

At least, you are now admitting trains did go via Chepstow. I'm not sure in my mind now is any on the Bristol route went in and out of Gloucester, but those via Chepstow served Gloucester.

 

[Senex]

Will double check the sectional appendix when back at work, but I'm fairly certain Abbotswood is 30mph off the 90mph main line. Down to Worcester you have got nothing more than 70. The Western Route Study comes out soon, we will see if there is any demand forecast from it, if not its unlikely to happen. As for pathing 75mph on a 100mph railway, its not the busiest stretch of line by a long chalk with 4tph passenger and an hourly freight.

30 at both ends of the curve in mid-2012. From memory, it's out of the back of a curve on the B&G line, which probably accounts for the 90 there. But there is the space where a siding was that could allow moving the junction south on to straight track (if anyone still wants 125 on the B&G, which was once the aspiration).

 

[Noddy]

Will double check the sectional appendix when back at work, but I'm fairly certain Abbotswood is 30mph off the 90mph main line. Down to Worcester you have got nothing more than 70. The Western Route Study comes out soon, we will see if there is any demand forecast from it, if not its unlikely to happen. As for pathing 75mph on a 100mph railway, its not the busiest stretch of line by a long chalk with 4tph passenger and an hourly freight.

Sorry you are right. Went through today and both junctions are limited to 30, with a short 50 section in between. And the Birmingham Bristol main line is 90 as you say although only for the junction-either side it's 100. So an upgrade should easily shave off a couple of minutes.

Anyway, as the new GW franchise has not proposed any upgrade to the frequency I can't see any improvements to the junction or to the timings. So Worcester Parkway may be a significant benefit to travellers between Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

 

[geoffk]

Not read all 13 pages of this thread but I reply as a former Worcestershire County Council public transport officer (now retired and living 140 miles from Worcester).

I've got big reservations about Worcester Parkway. The constraint of having a single platform on the high level has been mentioned. There is a long-running campaign to get Cross Country to stop more Cardiff - Nottinghams at Ashchurch, while a new station at Bromsgrove has just opened and better north-south links there are expected. If Cross Country agrees to stop the Cardiff service at Worc Parkway, and that's a big "if", then prospects for improvements at Ashchurch and Bromsgrove will be even worse.

The station will be in a rural location and will attract large amounts of car traffic. It will almost certainly abstract passengers from the stations mentioned, plus Droitwich, Pershore, Evesham and even Great Malvern. And will Great Western want three stops in the Worcester area - Parkway, Shrub Hill and Foregate Street? If not, which one goes - presumably Shrub Hill.

This idea has been around since the 1980s, when services through Worcester were infrequent and when most trains to Birmingham ran via Kidderminster; Cross-Country was slower and less frequent, as were trains on the Cotswold line via Oxford.

I am told that part of the plan for the station is an aspiration for a Bristol - Birmingham International semi-fast service - a good idea, but not one which is currently feasible with the lack of rolling stock and train paths, not to mention a TOC wanting to provide such a service on a wholly commercial basis.

 

[Noddy]

Apparently it's been approved by the DfT whatever that means:

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/news/article/1045/government_green_light_for_worcestershire_parkway

Also by the look of things it's being very much marketed as WorcesterSHIRE Parkway....

 

[sheff1]

Apparently it's been approved by the DfT whatever that means:

Well this announcement comes 2 & half years after the announcement in the OP which said "It's effectively got the green light from the Government and that means rather than talk about, we can now get on and deliver."

 

[Mintona]

I've heard a rumour that work has started on the station this week, anyone know for definite?

 

[Class172]

It would appear so…

Lift Off! clearance work underway for Worcestershire Parkway

LIFT-OFF has been declared for Worcestershire Parkway - with work finally getting underway to bring the railway station to reality.

Clearance work has kicked off on the 14-acre Norton site, with vegetation starting to be removed from the fields ahead of the mammoth construction project.

The Worcester News was given a tour of the land today, which is due to undergo a rapid transformation to turn it from a mudbath into a thriving train facility in 2018.

A team from the Buckingham Group are now preparing the land for construction, with a tree already gone, debris being removed and species like slow worms due to be boxed off in the presence of an ecologist.

Designs are due to be finalised for the actual station within weeks, before construction starts in September or October - meaning the firm has six months to get the site completely ready.

Worcestershire County Council described today's starting point as a "significant milestone" as the first sod was cut.

Councillor Ken Pollock, County Hall's cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: "The start of work on-site marks a significant milestone and demonstrates continued progress on this vitally important scheme.

"Once complete the station will provide improved rail accessibility and connectivity to and through Worcestershire."

Marc Riley, framework director for rail at the Buckingham Group, added: "We're delighted to be working with the council to help deliver an exciting new landmark."

The station is costing upwards of £22 million and has the backing of the Department for Transport, with £8.3 million of Government cash ploughed into it.

The council is borrowing cash to fund the rest, but says money from the 500-space car park and train operator fees will pay it all off over 25 years.

Gary Woodman, from Worcestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), today said it was "great to hear" that work had started.

"The station will modernise our rail infrastructure," he said.

It will be operated by Great Western Railway (GWR), accepting train services ran by both GWR and CrossCountry.

Once in operation it will make it easier for commuters to use the vital North Cotswold rail link between Worcester, Oxford and London Paddington.

It will also access services which currently pass through Worcestershire on the Birmingham and Bristol railway lines without stopping.

The rights over Worcestershire Parkway sparked a bitter spat with a rival developer, Norton Parkway Developments, but the council eventually secured the go-ahead from ministers and managed to avoid a protracted legal wrangle.

 

[The Planner]

Dec 18 timetable opening apparently.

 

[lancastrian]

I did a search and as far as I can tell there is no thread for this. I am holidaying in the Cotswolds and have travelled twice along the Cotswold Line to Worcester and beyond, and I have seen the work being done at the site as I travelled past.

The steps for the foot bridge are in place and the cross section seems to be on site, over the Birmingham to Bristol line. Now as far as I can tell, there will only be a single platform on the Cotswold line. This seems to me to be very short sighted, (although why I am surprised about this I don't know, as all Rail Improvement plans these days always seem to be short sighted).

To me it make perfect sense to extend the double track from Norton Junction, though a two platform station, and reverting to single track after the station. Honestly it would make even more sense to redouble all the single track sections on this line anyway. It would be easy to put a subway through the embankment to a second, Worcester bound platform, with ramps would save the cost of a lift. Just a few thoughts from my observations as I have passed it four times so far.

I would be interested to hear other views and comments, especially from those who know the area better than me, and have more insight into the thinking and planning of the station.

 

[pdeaves]

there will only be a single platform on the Cotswold line

Correct. The promotor is unwilling to pay for additional track and matching signalling alterations to give a double track through here.

 

[edwin_m]

I read that the design allows for a second platform to be added on the Cotwold line if it is ever re-doubled. Can you confirm that the new platform doesn't block the space that would be needed for a second track?

 

[lancastrian]

Correct. The promotor is unwilling to pay for additional track and matching signalling alterations to give a double track through here.

That makes sense to me, although I do wonder how much more it will cost when they finally double track through here.

 

[Unixman]

Yup .. I discussed this very issue with my local county councillor and he came back later and confirmed that the design allows a second platform to be built if redoubling occurs.

 

[jimm]

I did a search and as far as I can tell there is no thread for this. I am holidaying in the Cotswold's and have traveled twice along the Cotswold Line to Worcester and beyond, and I have seen the work being done at the site as I traveled past.

The steps for the foot bridge are in place and the cross section seems to be on site, this for over the Birmingham to Bristol line. Now as far as I can tell, there will only be a single platform on the Cotswold line. This seems to me to be very short sighted, (although why I am surprised about this I don't know, as all Rail Improvement plans these days always seem to be short sighted). To me it make perfect sense to extend the double track from Norton Junction, though a two platform station, and reverting to single track after the station. Honestly it would make even more sense to redouble all the single track sections on this line anyway. It would be easy to put a subway through the embankment to a second, Worcester bound platform, with ramps would save the cost of a lift. Just a few thoughts from my observations as I have passed it four times so far.

I would be interested to hear other views and comments, especially from those who know the area better than me, and have more insight into the thinking and planning of the station.

Why would someone spend money building a second platform when there's only a single line past the site? The budget for the station has already ballooned way past the initial estimates, even without including building a platform that would be sat there doing nothing.

No one is going to spend a penny on any track or signalling alterations in the Worcester area until a comprehensive modernisation scheme for the area is worked out, at long last reversing the truly short-sighted rationalisation scheme from 1971 and removing the semaphore signalling museum that is the area around Worcester - and decisions are made about future improvements, including more infrastructure work, for the Cotswold Line. A task force involving the rail industry and interested parties is currently working on this to develop a range of proposals for the whole route between Oxford and Worcester so that a business case can then be developed.

 

[MarkyT]

That makes sense to me, although I do wonder how much more it will cost when they finally double track through here.

There might have been some overall savings to be made by constructing at least the basic structure of the second platform at the same time as the main project, but with no firm timescale for the second track it would be difficult to justify only for it to lie unused for years possibly, and there would be an ongoing maintenance cost to prevent it degrading and becoming overgrown. Public access to a future second platform will be easy to arrange under the Cotswold line, via the intersection bridge which has a second clear span to the east of the Birmingham-Bristol line and, as long as the new station design protects good access to this, it could also be used get construction materials and equipment over to the down side when required.

 

[a good off]

Jimm, I work closely with the Worcester area signal boxes and you make the signalling sound absolutely unfit for purpose just because it is old. I can assure you that we get less problems with the old kit than with some of the latest technology. The old stuff works. I’m not sure how much you know about the signalling at Worcester but in the event that the line to Evesham was redoubled it wouldn’t take a lot to add it to the existing signalling between there and Norton Jn.

I agree, the 1971 singling was insane.

 

[MarkyT]

I don't think Jimm was questioning its integrity or reliability, but the current signalling includes some less than optimal layout arrangements, notably the twin single lines through Foregate Street. Also, as mechanical signalling installations dwindle in number, difficulty supporting the remaining boxes increases. It will all have to go eventually. As an enthusiast I will be sorry to see that, but I accept it as inevitable.

 

[HowardGWR]

I agree, the 1971 singling was insane.

Only now. Then, they were convinced that it would be more likely that the railway would be even less well-used than at that time, and cost cutting was seen as the only hope of preventing total closure.

What now? Does anyone think that redoubling is not required for the future? I don't, but clearly the DfT does.

 

[jimm]

Jimm, I work closely with the Worcester area signal boxes and you make the signalling sound absolutely unfit for purpose just because it is old. I can assure you that we get less problems with the old kit than with some of the latest technology. The old stuff works. I’m not sure how much you know about the signalling at Worcester but in the event that the line to Evesham was redoubled it wouldn’t take a lot to add it to the existing signalling between there and Norton Jn.

I agree, the 1971 singling was insane.

I am not suggesting there is anything inherently wrong with what is there, but it is a fact that things do break and people with the necessary expertise to fix them are increasingly scarce.

The current track layout around Worcester places severe constraints on capacity and it is high time something was done about it, which will also mean the end of the semaphores.

What now? Does anyone think that redoubling is not required for the future? I don't, but clearly the DfT does.

The DfT is well aware of the existence of the taskforce I mentioned above and, not unreasonably, is waiting to hear what it comes up with by way of suggestions on the way forward. You can stick down all the double track you like but you also need a comprehensive plan for how it can to be used to best effect.

There are plenty of things that need to be considered, such as whether there are ways to get some WMR services out to the Parkway and perhaps beyond to Evesham, where there are aspirations for direct trains to Birmingham. Will the Honeybourne-Stratford reopening proposals get anywhere, where does extra rolling stock for GWR come from if it becomes possible to improve Cotswold Line frequencies, etc, etc...

 

[lancastrian]

I wasn't suggesting that the line through to Evesham should be re-doubled at this time, although honestly it should never have been singled. All I suggested that a section of double track from Norton Junction, to past the potential Cotswold Line platforms be doubled. This would allow trains to pass here as I believe that they all will be stopping anyway. This would improve the reliability of the services along this line.

As a secondary observation, on both my return journeys on this line in the last week, I could have saved about £45 by not actually buying tickets. My wife and I traveled from Honeybourne to Worcester, and I myself traveled from Honeybourne to Kidderminster, both return journeys and not once were tickets checked. Plus when I actually asked the GWR Guard about buying tickets, he told me to buy at Worcester. There were NO ticket checks here either. When I went into the Travel centre at Foregate Street, to buy tickets for both journeys, the person there was amazed that I was being so honest to buy these tickets when I could have easily got away without doing so.

How can there ever be a accurate check on how many people are really traveling, the TRUE demand for services, plus I would be very surprised if the loses where minimal in any way. The do supposed 'Business Plans' for new station based on the actual or potential usage, from the travel figure along the line. These are got from ticket sales, if tickets are not bought because you cannot buy them, and no effort is made to sell you them, how can they get a true usage figure?

I would be interested to hear other views on this problem.

 

[jimm]

I repeat, no one is going to spend money on any new track and signalling around Worcester unless it is as part of a comprehensive modernisation scheme for the whole area. Money gets dribbled in now and again to keep the mechanical signalling going but that's all.

Even finding the money to pay for the Parkway station as it is currently going to be constructed has been extremely difficult. No one seriously believes it will come in at anything near the current official figure of £22m, or open next spring (long after it was supposed to be complete). Paying for another platform and even a short bit of double track and signalling for it would send the cost off the scale.

The issue of ticketless travel in the Vale of Evesham and around Worcester is well understood.

GWR have been told on many occasions that they are falling short on the Cotswold Line services - whether a train manger will try to check/sell tickets is a complete lottery - and while WMR seems to do a bit better on board its services in Worcestershire, the lack of gates at the Worcester stations is the key problem. Providing them will probably be hard to do at Foregate Street due to the limited space available.

Whenever spots checks are done there, they usually net several dozen people without tickets. This was last December.

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news...gate_Street_during_peak_time_sting_operation/