Cross TrainsCountry says ‘no’ to Bromsgrove stop

f people want to travel south from Bromsgrove to Cheltenham, Bristol and South West England and South Wales, or if a visitor wants to travel north from these destinations to the town and district, it is not easy.

The travel by car option is to use the increasingly busy, and often congested, M5 and M50 with the likelihood of being stuck in a traffic jam and adding to carbon emissions.

The first rail option is to travel from Bromsgrove station to University station, thus incurring extra time and expense, before catching a Cross Country (XC Trains) Nottingham to Cardiff Train, which then travels back through Bromsgrove before continuing on southwards.

It is possible to change at Worcestershire Parkway to continue south-east via the Great Western Railways (GWR) Services to the North Cotswolds, Oxford, Reading and London Paddington, or change at Cheltenham to continue to Bristol and the South West.

The second rail option, again time consuming and incurring extra expense, is to travel to Worcester Foregate Street, then change trains to catch the GWR Service to Cheltenham and Bristol.

As far as BARRUP is aware, there is no technical reason why XC Trains services can’t stop at Bromsgrove. They used to stop at the two platform pre-July 2016 station, and between 2016 and 2018 they stopped at the four platform new interchange station. But following the introduction of the Cross City electric services into Birmingham New Street and beyond in July 2018, the services were summarily withdrawn, without any consultation or any valid reason being given.

Bromsgrove

But there is a third, and much more attractive, option, which is being denied currently by XC Trains to the people and businesses of Bromsgrove.

Last year BARRUP pressed Worcestershire County Council to take up this issue with XC Trains, but currently the operator is adamant that it will not stop its services at Bromsgrove. Bearing in mind that XC Trains is heavily subsidised by the Government, and thus by you and me, this is unacceptable and in 2023 BARRUP will continue to press for its services to stop at the town’s station.

by Nick Taylor