WELCOME TO S.L.U.G. NEWS PAGE

We hope that you will find this page informative. It will be updated on a regular basis and will include articles supplied by the train companies and transport authorities with the appropriate links for detail. In addition, we will feature exclusives from Don Barton, our Liaison Officer who attends the various rail industry meetings. Very often train companies will leak good news in advance of a press release, so you will find it here first. Our scope goes further than train journeys along the line and Phil Tonks, our Integrated Transport Officer will report on bus service changes, which affect connections at our stations.

Our newsletter will continue in its present format and will contain full reports from Don, Phil and Caspar. It will be posted to members as before.

If you have any news material to share or if you want to comment on any of the news stories published here e-mail: newseditor@stourbridgelineusergroup.info

News Page Updated 21st June 2008

21st June

Change at Kidderminster

The Wyre Forest Transport Technical Group is a committee of Wyre Forest District Council and invited guests. The W.F.T.T.G meets to ensure that the desired public transport network for Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley is the one provided by commercial operators and the County Council. On Wednesday June 11th the Stourbridge Line User Group was represented at a W.F.T.T.G. meeting by Phil and Rob. As a full time employee of Bus Users UK, Phil is frequently involved with this particular forum as a consultant and is able to influence the District Council on matters relating to the integration of bus and train services in the area.

Once again, the topic of a new Kidderminster rail station was on the agenda:
A working group has been engaged in the planning and design of the new facility and the partners are Network Rail, The Severn Valley Railway and Worcestershire County Council. S.L.U.G. has seen detailed drawings of the new station and surrounding area (see previous news article) but it would seem that there are still various options still open for revision of the original design. The objective is to provide a more spacious station building with more passenger facilities but at the same time to protect the number of car parking spaces. The station area has been earmarked for an interchange incorporating three bus bays and shelters which will be located behind the existing taxi rank on land excavated from the shrub filled embankment. In addition, a layover bay will be constructed on the Severn Valley Railway car park.

Funding has yet to be approved but the partners will provide a proportionate share as well as seeking government sponsored initiative grants and “Access for All” reserved cash. There is real scope here for Kidderminster station to become an interchange up to the standard of Cradley Heath and it could be the hub of Worcestershire bus services. First Bus and Whittle Bus companies are both keen to run services to and from the station (subject to an improved junction layout at Comberton Road/ Station Drive) and if this were the case, S.L.U.G. would like to see frequencies of Stourport and Bewdley buses match those of the train.

On the subject of bus/rail links, the villagers of Harvington and Bluntington have lost most of their bus services to Kidderminster railway station. Regretfully, the number of passengers using the X3 does not justify the diversion of the bus from the Kidderminster to Bromsgrove main road but at least Chaddesley Corbett still has a reasonable service, albeit from the outskirts of the village.

Again, lack of patronage has led to the withdrawal of a Wyre Forest facility – the Park and Ride coach service from Aggborough to the town centre. Rob suggested the idea of a one way circular bus serving Aggborough, the rail station and town centre but he was advised that road layouts at present would not be conducive to such a service. It was agreed to revisit this idea when the new station layout was in place and meanwhile to look at upgrading the pedestrian access from Aggborough to the station which is not a considerable distance at all. Various means of improving car park provision and expansion have been considered including “double decking”. S.L.U.G. hopes that a local solution can be found so as to avoid the practice of parking out of town at other stations along the line.

All in all, the meeting was very interesting. Some topics such as “Bewdley, Load Street bus bay improvements” may seem to have no relevance for Stourbridge Line users but the fact is that it is part of a whole package to make public transport more attractive and accessible for passengers. The start of the journey is as important as the interchange and the final leg. S.L.U.G. hope to be invited to the W.F.T.T.G. again and we are happy to take along comments and suggestions to help improve the integration of Wyre Forest bus services with our railway line.

10th June

Behind the scenes

Viewers of this website may be forgiven for thinking that the Stourbridge Line User Group is inactive at the moment. This time of year yields very little news apart from the details of a new timetable and there is little or no change for Stourbridge Line commuters either on London Midland or Chiltern Railways services.

Of course, the postponement of the A.G.M has delayed the election of S.L.U.G. officers but the outgoing Committee have carried on regardless “out of the limelight” and “behind the scenes”. The liaison team, Don and Keith have continued to engage with the train operators to maintain our mutually beneficial relationship. The meeting at St Saviours Hall, Hagley on May 14th yielded much interesting information and cause for optimism:-

Ian Baxter represented the newly formed Northern Division of Chiltern Railways.
Ian’s role as Divisional manager is to focus on the highly lucrative market at the northern end of their railway operation and he reinforced their commitment to Stourbridge/ Kidderminster to London services. The company is undertaking a program of redecoration at their stations and has recently restored Leamington Spa to pristine condition. The main area of improvement to Chiltern services will be in decreased journey time on Birmingham to London trains. Their aspiration is an optimistic (but desirable), one and a half hours, effective from 2010 when 172 units come into play.

Mark Lawton, Customer Service Manager for the Snow Hill Lines reported for London Midland. Amongst forthcoming improvements are ongoing staff training, investments in station car parks, a wider allocation of ticket vending machines (backed up by revenue protection on the ground) and automatic gates at Birmingham stations by the end of the year. London Midland stations including Smethwick Galton Bridge will be re-branded in the new company colours. In addition, the help points at Stourbridge Line stations will go “live” connecting to real people and not recordings. This will provide both security and comfort for waiting passengers.

Further aspirations of London Midland include the electrification of the Barnt Green to Bromsgrove line and a new station at Kidderminster. This project is subject to funding but has progressed to key stage three. David Balme, representing Worcestershire County Council, elaborated on the projected Kidderminster station and produced detailed designs for both the station and surrounding area. The modular design will provide a more spacious building than at present and the office itself will be moved further down the line towards the new bridge and lifts. A new pathway will guide passengers from the new station to the Severn Valley terminus and traffic calming measures will be introduced if necessary.

It may seem a long way away but the 2010 timetable promises to be a considerable improvement. S.L.U.G. officers continue to push for intercity connections at Smethwick Galton Bridge and Worcester and there seems to be a consensus for these ambitions. Work should have been completed on re-signalling the line between Hartlebury and Blakedown, leaving more paths for Worcester-bound trains and (hopefully), time to stop more trains at Hartlebury. All in all there is still work for S.L.U.G. to do and we hope to be “up and running” as soon as possible and not simply working “Behind the scenes. Watch this space for information about the rescheduled A.G.M.

13th February

Good and bad news concerning station bus links.

The Stourbridge Line User Group is happy to report some good news for bus passengers in Kidderminster. Forthcoming changes to First Group local services will benefit commuters who want to travel onwards by train. First Group have extended the existing Kidderminster – Spennells service 10 to Habberley on Monday to Friday, off peak. This revised route combined with service 2 gives 4 buses an hour from Habberley and provides through buses to Kidderminster Railway station. As well as this welcome new link, which comes into effect on February 24th, early morning Stourport to Kidderminster services 3 and X3 have been retimed to improve bus/train connections.

Last year when the previous revisions took effect, S.L.U.G. criticised First Group for the neglect of rail station routes. Both First Group and Worcestershire County Council appear to have taken note and it would seem that Integrated Public Transport is back on the agenda: Our Liaison Officer, Don Barton attended the Worcestershire Timetable Conference on Monday January 17th and was pleased to report some progress in the County strategy to coordinate timings of London Midland, Chiltern and First Great Western trains so as to provide better connections. Although this was a strictly rail travel conference, it was recognised that buses have an important role to play where stations such as Kidderminster and Bromsgrove are not centrally located and the lack of a regular bus shuttle offsets advantages gained by better train to train connections.

At the northern end of the Stourbridge Line, the situation has taken a turn for the worse: the Station Link bus which connected the three Birmingham stations has been withdrawn.

Patronage of the free service has not been enough to justify its continuance. It is the intention of Centro that the Birmingham Metro extension will eventually provide the station to station link but its construction and operation appears to be years away.

Meanwhile, at London Marylebone another possible solution is on trial: Chiltern have just taken delivery of a Buggy to assist passengers with walking and visual disabilities to get from the Marylebone station entrance out to the train. It will be of particular assistance for passengers who wish to get to trains on the new platforms which involve a very long walk. Every attempt is being made for all the Birmingham trains to be leaving from the nearer platforms, and particularly all the Kidderminster/Stourbridge trains, as it is thought that these will perhaps be carrying more long distance passengers and fewer London commuters.

Our Liaison Officer has received an indication that Centro are interested in the idea of a similar Buggy for use between Moor Street and New Street. Shortly the Chiltern Passenger Board members will be asked for their ideas for the 2008/9 User Group Fund. Don proposes to support Centro's idea by putting it forward as a nomination from SLUG and seeking support from the other Snow Hill lines user groups. He will suggest that the project be jointly funded by Centro, Birmingham City Council, the New Street TOCs, Network Rail and the Chiltern User Group Fund, as joint funded projects have a higher chance of being approved by Chiltern Management.

18th January

Striking the right chord.

The Stourbridge Line User Group is currently preparing its response to the Centro/W.M.P.T.A. document entitled “West Midlands Rail Vision; Network Development Strategy”. The document dated November 2007 has only recently been published but the content has been well worth waiting for. Over the years the Group has responded to many consultation documents but this collection of projects has to be the most ambitious and far reaching. From what we can extract of this strategy, we are very excited about the prospects for rail travel in the West Midlands. We feel sure that our members will share our excitement.

If the aspirations of this blueprint turn into reality, then S.L.U.G. can start to wind up most of its campaigns! For instance the demand for improved evening and Sunday services has been recognised and measures are proposed to provide increased capacity on the Railways of the West Midlands.

Fundamental to all the proposed improvements is the construction of the two Bordesley Chords which will allow trains to proceed from the Camp Hill Line to Birmingham Moor Street Station. Under this scheme, the Camp Hill Line itself will re-open to passengers with three new stations. As well as giving these Birmingham suburbs a rail service and connections to the Stourbridge Line, the chords open up the possibility of Nottingham, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Leicester and Cardiff services being diverted away from Birmingham New Street, thereby creating anintercity station at Birmingham Moor Street and easy connections from the Stourbridge line.

The Network Development Strategy also applies to services operating in Warwickshire as Centro has influence on the so called “travel to work area” and is not restricted by political boundaries. Presently, one of our Stourbridge local trains runs through to Stratford-Upon-Avon. If suggested signalling and line upgrades are carried out, potentially we could have a twenty minute frequency and a late evening return from Stratford–Upon-Avon.

Similarly, the Strategy extends to Worcestershire where Bromsgrove station and its services may be radically improved to Cross-City Line standards. S.L.U.G. looks forward to the time when a journey from Stourbridge to Bromsgrove (with a good connection at Droitwich) is a realistic option. Also in Worcestershire, two Parkway stations are proposed which S.L.U.G. will evaluate.

The Strategy then looks at re-opening the full length of the Stourbridge-Dudley-Walsall-Lichfield freight route. We fully support the principle but no specific plans are in place for a PASSENGER RAILWAY: We are offered only a few words of comfort – “may create opportunity for tram/train or other rail-based options for passenger services on the route”. We have campaigned for too many years to let this opportunity slip away again. What has happened to the Metro scheme? Surely a heavy rail scheme should be considered in tandem with the freight line restoration? There are also economic light rail vehicles available which can use heavy rail infrastructure. These options must be explored.

All in all, there is much cause for optimism but there are oversights and omissions:
• Kidderminster is a strategic station and falls into the “travel to work” area. Worcestershire County Council badly needs partners and funding to upgrade this station to become a practical bus/rail interchange.
• There is no direct public transport of any kind from Kidderminster area to Wolverhampton, Merry Hill Centre or Birmingham Airport.

It looks as though S.L.U.G. will still have a few campaigns to keep its committee busy!

(Source of story – Peter Sargant, Head of Rail and Rapid Transit Development,Centro )

20th November

Introducing London Midland

Our new train operator, London Midland has been running Stourbridge Line services for over a week and assumed its role quietly and confidently. They have not shamelessly eradicated all traces of their predecessor, Central Trains because to do so would be to discredit all improvements made by that company. At Stourbridge Town, the only noticeable change is a London Midland poster welcoming passengers to the station and listing the facilities provided. There are no changes to the station signs because they are provided by Network West Midlands (Centro) and the livery of the Town Car is still the same.

The official launch of the new franchise was on Monday November 12th at a briefing, in the Issigonis Suite, Millennium Point, Birmingham hosted by Keith Ludeman, Chairman of Govia and Group Chief Executive of the Go-Ahead Group. SLUG Liaison Officer, Don Barton, attended the event on our behalf and Caspar Lucas was there in an official capacity representing Parry People Movers. The formal presentations were all very brief and low key. The Rail Leader of the West Midland Passenger Transport Authority welcomed Govia to our region and the two Govia speakers outlined their hopes for the future. Being at Millennium Point one of the rooms being used gave a spectacular view of the main West Coast Main Line just south of New Street and word soon passed round the room that there would be a run past of one of the three re-liveried suburban electric, class 323, trains coming north from Coventry and then quarter of an hour later on its return from New Street.

During the presentation, it was noticeable that London Midland returned to the use of the term “passenger” instead of the word “customer”. London Midland promised to build on the work of Central Trains and Centro and outlined their immediate and long term plans:-

• new and refurbished trains
• better information
• new CCTV and increased security
• more parking spaces and cycle storage
• improved accessibility
• better customer service
• annual environmental targets

After the formal presentations Don used the opportunity to speak informally with Keith Ludeman about our concerns over the need to improve the poor labour relations that have dogged the Sunday services in the run-up to the last two Christmas’s and the need to negotiate with the unions over un-rostered weekend working.

Don also used the opportunity to speak informally with the several Centro staff present about our desire to improve the links from our line and Birmingham International for both the airport and the NEC. He stressed that there was no connection between any station in Worcestershire and the airport and the unsatisfactory need to change trains twice for passengers with luggage.

The Group does not expect an immediate roll out of improvements but will continue to campaign in line with passenger expectations. Amongst our priorities:-

• SLUG wants to see a reliable, frequent, high quality service on the Birmingham-Stourbridge-Kidderminster-Worcester route and on the Stourbridge Town branch. London Midland's proposals so far are welcomed, but SLUG wishes to see improved evening services and an extension of turn-and-and-go frequency into a greater part of the week. (Weekday evenings are poor at present, with significant [over 40 minutes] gaps in services back from Birmingham and final services too early for theatre-goers, etc. )

• SLUG remains concerned that the planned Class 172 fleet is smaller (albeit by just one vehicle, excluding the ex-Anglia Class 150s) than the fleet it is replacing, and intends to monitor whether overcrowding worsens as a result.

• Connections from the Stourbridge line are a big issue, with no direct services to New Street, few connections for the south west, no decent destinations from the low level platforms at Galton Bridge and no Cross Country connections any more at Solihull. These facts prevent the railway from competing with road for passenger transport from and to the area served by the Stourbridge line. Passengers are prepared to make journeys with one change of train, but dislike further changes.

London Midland has acquired the valuable assets of Central Trains, not least its experienced staff and they are acutely aware where the new company needs to go. If first impressions are anything to go by, then the new company and its team are looking in the same direction as the Stourbridge Line User Group. We welcome London Midland and look forward to working with them.

S.L.U.G. promotes integrated public transport together with BUS USERS UK

New footbridge and lifts nearing
completion at Kidderminster station

Links > Centro : London Midland : Chiltern Railways :

Worcestershire County Council < Links