BARRUP Rail

Rail Matters from BARRUP

www.bromsgroverail.org.uk

( Bromsgrove and Redditch Rail User Partnership)

The Worcestershire County Council Elections take place on Thursday, May 6th, and they give us, the voters, the opportunity to influence the improvement of rail connectivity in North East Worcestershire. In February 2020, the Worcestershire Parkway (WOP) Station, designed to be an “Interchange Station” and which cost circa £22m, was opened.

BARRUP is campaigning for those Cross Country Trains (XC) which stop at Parkway to stop also at Bromsgrove so as to bring significant economic and environmental benefits to the residents and businesses of the North East Worcestershire District.

Part of the funding for the new station will have come from you and me, as Council Tax Payers living and working in the District, but currently WP is very underutilised, and presumably running at a financial loss.

Can we use it as an “Interchange Station” directly from Bromsgrove? No!

What benefit do we get from it? Virtually none!

Why? Because currently none of the XC Trains which stop at Parkway stop also at Bromsgrove.

So if someone wants to travel by rail from Bromsgrove to Cheltenham, the South West, Cardiff and South Wales for leisure or business purposes, firstly he/she has to travel from Bromsgrove to University Station on a West Midlands Trains service, and then has to catch the XC service which travels back through Bromsgrove and onwards.

Similarly, if someone wants to travel from Bromsgrove to Pershore, Evesham, Oxford, Reading, Paddington and other destinations on the Great Western Railway services which do interchange at Parkway, again he / she has to travel firstly to University to catch the XC service which travels back through Bromsgrove and stops at Parkway

The situation is the same for the services in reverse for someone wanting to travel to Bromsgrove to visit some of the District’s attractions (see Page 32 of the February edition of “Completely Bromsgrove”), or because he/she wishes to do business with an organisation in Bromsgrove.

What a waste of a time and money for the residents of Bromsgrove and North East Worcestershire wishing to travel south, south east and south west by rail and what a deterrent for potential visitors to the District, at a time when the local economies need rebuilding!!!

In the next few weeks before the Elections, the County Councillors which sit for Bromsgrove on the County Council will be asking for your votes so that they can be elected.

Ask your local candidates whether they support the BARRUP campaign and decide how to cast your vote accordingly. You can make a difference!