Worcestershire Parkway Station - Now Open

[The Stationmaster]

An interesting thing about 'parkway' stations is that it seems to be common for demand to turn out totally differently from what various sets of consultants (all highly paid no doubt) said it would be.  In some cases it rockets well above even the most ambitious expectation (e.g Bristol Parkway) while in others (e.g Ashford International fro Eurostar) it falls so far short as to be positively embarassing.

 

What is also never really clear until it happens is the impact on travel patterns - this can also turn out taking rather unexpected turns even if various non-railway local changes have been taken into account. And I have no doubt that should it actually be built the same with go for Worcestershire Parkway as I think it will be one where all the forecasts will gradually start to fall behind the actuality.

[teaky]

There isn't too much land left undeveloped near to Shrub Hill and what remains wouldn't provide an attractive location for living accomodation.  I don't know for certain but it is likely that it has been earmarked for business development.  The usual online maps with aerial views give a good view of what undeveloped land remains and you can see there are several large grey roofed modern commercial units as well as the old railway workshop buildings.

 

Worcester city centre isn't without recent housing developments but the majority of house building has been on the outskirts close to the M5.  The age of the city means that roads into and out of Worcester have pinch points at rush hour and would not be helped by encouraging more commuters to use Shrub Hill or Foregate Street, other than those living in the city centre, but might be helped by a parkway station.

[Phil Bullock]

To clarify Martin's comment above, the service I mentioned went via Worcester to Paddington. I can't remember though if started in Birmingham or not. It was one of the few 4 beaters of the day (well the only one on earlies ) that we signalled.

 

 

As for the Kidderminster rebuild (and at the risk of going too off topic, ) all I can say is I hope it is better than the last proposal, but with reduced parking to make a taxi rank to make room for bus  stops for the 2 or 3 buses a day and traffic lights at the station entrance I fear not. It might be quicker to get to Worcester Parkway then. .

 

Andy

 

Ah that fits in better with the original OWW service patterns which of course was through to Wolverhampton via Worcester.

 

The last vestige of that was the Kidderminster portion of the Cathedrals express which IIRC ran until at least 1964 - comined with Hereford portion and additional coaches at Worcester - what timescale are you thinking of ANdy?

 

kind regards

 

Phil

Phil

[Joseph_Pestell]

There isn't too much land left undeveloped near to Shrub Hill and what remains wouldn't provide an attractive location for living accomodation.  I don't know for certain but it is likely that it has been earmarked for business development.  The usual online maps with aerial views give a good view of what undeveloped land remains and you can see there are several large grey roofed modern commercial units as well as the old railway workshop buildings.

 

Worcester city centre isn't without recent housing developments but the majority of house building has been on the outskirts close to the M5.  The age of the city means that roads into and out of Worcester have pinch points at rush hour and would not be helped by encouraging more commuters to use Shrub Hill or Foregate Street, other than those living in the city centre, but might be helped by a parkway station.

 

I am absolutely not against the Parkway. Like Mike (Stationmaster), I think that it will prove to be very successful.

 

I was just considering what might be done to make Shrub Hill (presumably listed buildings) a bit more viable as a station in the future.

[teaky]

I am absolutely not against the Parkway. Like Mike (Stationmaster), I think that it will prove to be very successful.

 

I was just considering what might be done to make Shrub Hill (presumably listed buildings) a bit more viable as a station in the future.

I didn't read anything negative into your post Joseph.  It would be great if Shrub Hill could be reinvigorated and farmland near Norton not built upon, but I fear it is too late for that.  As others have indicated it is difficult to see what Shrub Hill will provide once Parkway comes into use.  Parkway will have the access for cars and Foregate Street will have the convenience for the city centre.  The only possible saviour would be a long distance through service in the direction of Kidderminster and/or Wolverhampton but even that might work by reversing in and out of Foregate Street.

 

I don't know if the station buildings are listed.  There are some interesting little details around but they are not in good shape and the 1960s/70s monstrosities in front of them do not help.  The nearby workshop buildings are in better shape and developments are underway for those.  It was also pleasing to see a brand new group of commercial units built nearby a few years ago in a style that echoed the older workshops.  (I'm not necessarily one for pastiche architecture but on this occasion it was appropriate.)  One problem that has to be overcome with the old workshops is their size.  They are extensive, especially if one includes the newer buildings right next to them.  There's also the challenge of developing something that adds to the city rather than transplants the centre or, in the case of business premises, that does not rely on road transport where motorway access will win.  Earlier developments have rather cut off Shrub Hill from the city centre and there is little foot traffic between the two.

[melmerby]

An interesting thing about 'parkway' stations is that it seems to be common for demand to turn out totally differently from what various sets of consultants (all highly paid no doubt) said it would be.  In some cases it rockets well above even the most ambitious expectation (e.g Bristol Parkway) while in others (e.g Ashford International fro Eurostar) it falls so far short as to be positively embarassing.

 

What is also never really clear until it happens is the impact on travel patterns - this can also turn out taking rather unexpected turns even if various non-railway local changes have been taken into account. And I have no doubt that should it actually be built the same with go for Worcestershire Parkway as I think it will be one where all the forecasts will gradually start to fall behind the actuality.

Providing parking at stations that didn't originally have it can cause huge changes to the travel patterns.

 

One locality I know of, as it reasonably close to where I live, is Whitlock's End on the North Warwickshire Line.

It was a (very) small halt with little custom until Centro identified it as a possible commuter station and it was rebuilt with new ramps to the lengthened platforms and a smallish car park provided. With the new patronage it encouraged the car park soon proved inadequate and it has been extended twice so far. (And is still usually pretty full)

Far from being a little no-where halt it is now even has a turn back so that trains can start/terminated there!

 

Keith

[martin_wynne]

One locality I know of, as it reasonably close to where I live, is Whitlock's End on the North Warwickshire Line. It was a (very) small halt with little custom until Centro...

 

Which leads to this interesting announcement when boarding at Kidderminster,  -- "Welcome to this London Midland service to Whitlock's End". I doubt many Kidderminster folk had ever heard of Whitlock's End or have the faintest idea where it is. And the same goes for Great Malvern, Worcester and Droitwich.

 

They are almost all going to Birmingham, so would it not be better if the welcome announcement actually mentioned this, rather than including the Birmingham stops in a long list of other stops? "Welcome to this London Midland service to Birmingham and Whitlock's End" doesn't sound too difficult to do. Or is the software not capable of changing the welcome part to exclude Birmingham after leaving Snow Hill? In the olden days I can't imagine a porter shouting "Whitlock's End" for the Birmingham trains.

 

Martin.

Edited February 18, 2015 by martin_wynne

[Joseph_Pestell]

Providing parking at stations that didn't originally have it can cause huge changes to the travel patterns.

 

One locality I know of, as it reasonably close to where I live, is Whitlock's End on the North Warwickshire Line.

It was a (very) small halt with little custom until Centro identified it as a possible commuter station and it was rebuilt with new ramps to the lengthened platforms and a smallish car park provided. With the new patronage it encouraged the car park soon proved inadequate and it has been extended twice so far. (And is still usually pretty full)

Far from being a little no-where halt it is now even has a turn back so that trains can start/terminated there!

 

Keith

 

I can identify with this. Stations near here (Templecombe/Gillingham/Tisbury) could all attract more passengers if they had adequate car parks. And all serve locations that are planned to expand with more housing. It has been suggested that Gillingham station should be moved eastwards both to allow a larger car park and better access. But the line there is on a 1:130 gradient. Another option would be to reopen Semley but I can't see us getting any more stops until the line is doubled west of Wilton.

[SM42]

Ah that fits in better with the original OWW service patterns which of course was through to Wolverhampton via Worcester.

 

The last vestige of that was the Kidderminster portion of the Cathedrals express which IIRC ran until at least 1964 - comined with Hereford portion and additional coaches at Worcester - what timescale are you thinking of ANdy?

 

kind regards

 

Phil

Phil

 

The service I recall ran in the mid 90s ( I was banging out the bells at Hartlebury then) and was a 165 or similar.

 

In fact I just thought to have a quick look in one of John Boyton's books (Rails Through the Hills)  and there is a 165 (114 to be precise) photographed leaving Kidderminster for Paddington in 1993 and he quotes the service as starting  from Stourbridge and ran between October 1993 and May 1995, one return service per day although the down service ran to Malvern from 1994.

 

Teaky, I can't see a service running via Foregate St and reversing (in favour of Shrub Hill )  for the simple reason that it would require the re-instatement of a junction (Rainbow Hill Jn?) and the rather incovenient fath of reversing a service at a rather inflexible site. However stranger things have happened.

 

Shrub Hill would in my view still serve a purpose for longer distance traffic (Birmingham - Cardiff perhaps) which would avoid a rather long taxi or bus ride into the city for those who hadn't driven to and set out from Parkway in the first place.  With a bit of investment and TLC Shrub Hill could be a quite wonderful place to arrive and depart.

 

Andy

[The Stationmaster]

I can identify with this. Stations near here (Templecombe/Gillingham/Tisbury) could all attract more passengers if they had adequate car parks. And all serve locations that are planned to expand with more housing. It has been suggested that Gillingham station should be moved eastwards both to allow a larger car park and better access. But the line there is on a 1:130 gradient. Another option would be to reopen Semley but I can't see us getting any more stops until the line is doubled west of Wilton.

The interesting thing about those stations is how far north their potential catchment extends which would no doubt have a considerable effect if car parking could be increased.  An amusing thing about Tisbury - rather a long time ago when it was on my patch there was a loss in booking of £20 and my boss duly sent me down there to try to find it  (although by that time booking offices on the patch weren't my responsibility I did have something of a knack with station accounts and I could get off to home for the weekend from there as well).  Anyway I did in the end find the discrepancy after going through every piece of paperwork and ultimately dismantling parts of the booking office - to duly retrieve a £20 note down the back of some drawers.

 

But that is not the point of this post - in the process I checked the record of blank season ticket issues (always a good place for accountancy 'oddities') and found the cover to carry a label indicating its L&SWR ownership and their Stationery Number for that sort of book.  So using up old stationery?   Not exactly, the book had been started in 1913 and such was the level of blank season ticket issues at Tisbury that by 1976 it wasn't even halfway full.  As Tisbury didn't have any printed stock season tickets, and probably never had, it can hardly have been a major attraction as a commuter station - maybe a decent car park is a long outstanding idea (and a better train service).

[SM42]

One thing that strikes me about the development of traffic Whitlocks End is whether it being a Centro station it has free parking ( I don't know the situation there I must admit) and is therefore sucking in commuters from nearby stations outside the Centro area where parking is not free.

 

This happened at Stourbridge Jn as I know several people who drove the 6 miles from Kidderminster to Stourbridge Jn because of the cost of parking (and the more frequent service helped)

 

Would Worcester Parkway be the same if parking was free. I would imagine Evesham and Pershore areas being a good source of traffic (if indeed parking is charged at these places) But then again would large numbers of people  from around  these areas who already commute by train,  and not towards London, be going anywhere other than Worcester in the first place?

 

Andy

[melmerby]

One thing that strikes me about the development of traffic Whitlocks End is whether it being a Centro station it has free parking ( I don't know the situation there I must admit) and is therefore sucking in commuters from nearby stations outside the Centro area where parking is not free.

 

This happened at Stourbridge Jn as I know several people who drove the 6 miles from Kidderminster to Stourbridge Jn because of the cost of parking (and the more frequent service helped)

 

Would Worcester Parkway be the same if parking was free. I would imagine Evesham and Pershore areas being a good source of traffic (if indeed parking is charged at these places) But then again would large numbers of people  from around  these areas who already commute by train,  and not towards London, be going anywhere other than Worcester in the first place?

 

Andy

It is a Centro station as are the next two, Wythall in Worcestershire but within Centro's remit and Earlswood which is in the West Midlands former County.

 

Wythall has been identified for a Car park but not got past the wish list (AFAIK)

Next nearest stations will be on the GWR main route out of Brum some of which already have Centro car parks

 

keith

[phil-b259]

The interesting thing about those stations is how far north their potential catchment extends which would no doubt have a considerable effect if car parking could be increased.  An amusing thing about Tisbury - rather a long time ago when it was on my patch there was a loss in booking of £20 and my boss duly sent me down there to try to find it  (although by that time booking offices on the patch weren't my responsibility I did have something of a knack with station accounts and I could get off to home for the weekend from there as well).  Anyway I did in the end find the discrepancy after going through every piece of paperwork and ultimately dismantling parts of the booking office - to duly retrieve a £20 note down the back of some drawers.

 

But that is not the point of this post - in the process I checked the record of blank season ticket issues (always a good place for accountancy 'oddities') and found the cover to carry a label indicating its L&SWR ownership and their Stationery Number for that sort of book.  So using up old stationery?   Not exactly, the book had been started in 1913 and such was the level of blank season ticket issues at Tisbury that by 1976 it wasn't even halfway full.  As Tisbury didn't have any printed stock season tickets, and probably never had, it can hardly have been a major attraction as a commuter station - maybe a decent car park is a long outstanding idea (and a better train service).

 

I would imagine that the 2hrly train service enforced by the late 60s rationalisation probably had an effect on ridership in BR days. Now that more loops have been provided and the service has gone to hourly I would imagine the service is a lot more attractive with season ticket revenue up as a result.

[Hesperus]

I'm all for a new station in (well near) Worcester but I hope they bother to signpost this one.  A regular customer of mine needed to catch the 6am London train and asked me to take her to Foregate Street Station.  I know the way to Worcester well and stations are generally pretty well signposted so I rather foolishly didn't bring directions.  Fortunately we found a pedestrian to ask as the only sign we found was 100yds away when we were already on Foregate St.

 

I realise that local authorities are keen for us to reduce car use in city centres but this seems a bit much.

[teaky]

SM42

 

I can't see a service running via Foregate St and reversing (in favour of Shrub Hill )  for the simple reason that it would require the re-instatement of a junction (Rainbow Hill Jn?) and the rather incovenient fath of reversing a service at a rather inflexible site. However stranger things have happened.

 

No, I can't see it either, though reinstating Rainbow Hill junction doesn't seem like too difficult a task.  (Might need to find a few more GWR lower quadrant signals to finish it though.)

 

 

Shrub Hill would in my view still serve a purpose for longer distance traffic (Birmingham - Cardiff perhaps) which would avoid a rather long taxi or bus ride into the city for those who hadn't driven to and set out from Parkway in the first place.  With a bit of investment and TLC Shrub Hill could be a quite wonderful place to arrive and depart.

 

I am struggling to think of enough traffic to justify the investment.  Plus, no matter how nice the station is made, the moment you step outside, the vista is a couple of dilapidated office blocks and modern soulless DIY store shed roofs.  There is also still the distance issue.  For most people, Shrub Hill is just too far to walk for the city centre via an uninspiring and not especially pedestrian friendly route.  It's the kind of thing which needs a small bus.  (Hmm, I wonder if should invest in a small fleet of rickshaws?)

 

 

Would Worcester Parkway be the same if parking was free. I would imagine Evesham and Pershore areas being a good source of traffic (if indeed parking is charged at these places) But then again would large numbers of people  from around  these areas who already commute by train,  and not towards London, be going anywhere other than Worcester in the first place?

 

Unless residents of Evesham and Pershore are within walking distance of the station, I'd be surprised if many of them commuted to Worcester other than by car.  The distances are too small.  By the time you've parked and waited for a train you could be most of the way to Worcester.  Evesham is only about 30 minutes from the M5 and Pershore is closer.  I suspect most rail commuters may be heading to Birmingham.

[teaky]

I'm all for a new station in (well near) Worcester but I hope they bother to signpost this one.  A regular customer of mine needed to catch the 6am London train and asked me to take her to Foregate Street Station.  I know the way to Worcester well and stations are generally pretty well signposted so I rather foolishly didn't bring directions.  Fortunately we found a pedestrian to ask as the only sign we found was 100yds away when we were already on Foregate St.

 

I realise that local authorities are keen for us to reduce car use in city centres but this seems a bit much.

Now that you mention it, there aren't many signs are there?  I wouldn't fancy the chances of a stranger finding Foregate Street in a car without going around the one-way system at least once before noticing the very nicely restored bridge.  Perhaps they just think that because there's no parking, no one will arrive by car.

[Phil Bullock]

The service I recall ran in the mid 90s ( I was banging out the bells at Hartlebury then) and was a 165 or similar.

 

In fact I just thought to have a quick look in one of John Boyton's books (Rails Through the Hills)  and there is a 165 (114 to be precise) photographed leaving Kidderminster for Paddington in 1993 and he quotes the service as starting  from Stourbridge and ran between October 1993 and May 1995, one return service per day although the down service ran to Malvern from 1994.

 

Teaky, I can't see a service running via Foregate St and reversing (in favour of Shrub Hill )  for the simple reason that it would require the re-instatement of a junction (Rainbow Hill Jn?) and the rather incovenient fath of reversing a service at a rather inflexible site. However stranger things have happened.

 

Shrub Hill would in my view still serve a purpose for longer distance traffic (Birmingham - Cardiff perhaps) which would avoid a rather long taxi or bus ride into the city for those who hadn't driven to and set out from Parkway in the first place.  With a bit of investment and TLC Shrub Hill could be a quite wonderful place to arrive and depart.

 

Andy

Thanks for that Andy

 

My timetable knowledge is probably stronger for the 60s/70 than the 90s - as you might have guessed

 

Kind regards

 

Phil

[Joseph_Pestell]

I would imagine that the 2hrly train service enforced by the late 60s rationalisation probably had an effect on ridership in BR days. Now that more loops have been provided and the service has gone to hourly I would imagine the service is a lot more attractive with season ticket revenue up as a result.

 

For much of the day we have a half-hourly service at Tisbury and Gillingham. In many ways, it is far more reliable and user friendly than the service we had when living at Newbury (much larger population and only about half the distance from London).

[TheSignalEngineer]

Providing parking at stations that didn't originally have it can cause huge changes to the travel patterns.

 

One locality I know of, as it reasonably close to where I live, is Whitlock's End on the North Warwickshire Line.

It was a (very) small halt with little custom until Centro identified it as a possible commuter station and it was rebuilt with new ramps to the lengthened platforms and a smallish car park provided. With the new patronage it encouraged the car park soon proved inadequate and it has been extended twice so far. (And is still usually pretty full)

Far from being a little no-where halt it is now even has a turn back so that trains can start/terminated there!

 

Keith

I lived at Dickens Heath some years ago. The service then was sparse and unreliable. Even though I was a few minutes walk from the station I used to drive closer in to get a better service. Parking at Shirley was impossible so I normally used the new car park at Yardley Wood which had just been opened. Incidentally I proposed the Whitlocks End turn back instead of Shirley during an abortive resignalling scheme around the time when the new Dickens Heath development was being planned. It must have taken over 25 years to come to fruition

[melmerby]

I lived at Dickens Heath some years ago. The service then was sparse and unreliable. Even though I was a few minutes walk from the station I used to drive closer in to get a better service. Parking at Shirley was impossible so I normally used the new car park at Yardley Wood which had just been opened. Incidentally I proposed the Whitlocks End turn back instead of Shirley during an abortive resignalling scheme around the time when the new Dickens Heath development was being planned. It must have taken over 25 years to come to fruition

Ah. Dicken's Heath! It makes Poundbury (Charlie Wales's pet project) seem quite natural. All those faux re-cycled bricks and fantasy warehouse conversions.

An Architect friend of mine refuses to drive through it, saying he would rather stick needles in his eyes.

 

Keith

[TheSignalEngineer]

Ah. Dicken's Heath! It makes Poundbury (Charlie Wales's pet project) seem quite natural. All those faux re-cycled bricks and fantasy warehouse conversions.

An Architect friend of mine refuses to drive through it, saying he would rather stick needles in his eyes.

 

Keith

A Planning farce. The original Public Enquiry was based on 500 units. When I left the area there were I think 1100 and still building. The smell of the rat was very strong.

[28XX]

SNIP! (I vaguely recall a Worcester - Weston Super Mare service at one point. Very useful for visiting a certain emporium in Cheltenham on an afternoon.) SNIP!

 

Ahh! 1V89  The 14:20 New Street to Weston Super Mud via Worcester.

Edited February 20, 2015 by 28XX

[John_Miles]

For strange destinations - about 10 to 15 years ago there was a Cardiff Gunnislake train. To ensure the "customers" were comfortable on such a long trip, FGW used to put on a class 150.

[Phil Bullock]

Surprised it wasn't a Pacer!

 

Phil

[teaky]

Not Worcester Parkway but it will connect Foregate Street station and does feature the viaduct.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-31715853

 

Looks like they've worked out the least direct route from A to B.  Interesting idea though.  If only it had funding.

 

Should be just a few metres above the water when the Severn floods!