“Britain's railway is busier now than anytime since 1920.
Britain has the fastest growing railway in Europe.” (from Network Rail’s home website)
£50 bn is easily and quickly found for duplicating long distance, inter-city lines that work so well already. The real capacity issue is in the seven hours of rush hour every day from Mon to Fri, made worse by our two class trains that have spare capacity in first class. Rush hour congestion can be relieved by re-opening the 38 miles of existing unused and underused urban rail lines that have some miles alongside commuter congested roads. These 38 miles of double track are the Camp Hill line, the Dudley line and the Sutton line. Certainly, the Camp Hill line would make a big profit if a chord was built (a curved new section of line) to bring it into Moor St Sta instead of the over congested New Street. The unused Dudley line has Merry Hill shopping centre, the Waterfront, Black Country World and Dudley Castle on or near it. This is financially viable, too if properly promoted for these attractions and as a commuter route instead of car use. Even if it makes a loss, a new regime of profitable lines subsidising the ecologically and socially responsible lines that may not be so financially profitable, must be brought in. As long as this does not detract from marketing and strict controls on one to a car commuting when that car is not need for work purposes.
WALSALL HAS MANY LINES RADIATING FROM ITS CENTRE - from my OS Explorer map the main ones are: -
Walsall to B'ham - 2 lines - one, the Sutton line, is underused, for freight only, that goes via Aldridge in commuter land, then through Sutton Park; the other line to Birmingham takes trains to New St .
Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley on the WCML (West Coast Main Line) has two tracks. This line might be able to take future inter-city trains that bypass congested New St Sta via the Dudley line, below. It would certainly be able to take London Midland trains from the newly opened Dudley line.
Walsall to Lichfield remains closed and is now used by NCR 5 at its southern end.
Walsall to Wolverhampton was re-opened for a short time and then closed, again for lack of passengers. This is hardly surprising, so why was it ever attempted? But, unfortunately, it may have led to a case of a once bitten, twice shy mentality as regards any future rail reopenings like the urgently needed Camp Hill and Dudley lines. For me, all these mistakes and decades of delay indicate incompetence and negligence by our supposed transport ‘experts’.
Walsall to Dudley and Stourbridge Jct remains largely unused but is available for freight trains and, for the last thirty years, for Metro trams only. Yet, trams have still not put in an appearance. Astonishing! Altogether, this important 13.5 miles double track rail line has remained a wasted asset for over forty years as road traffic congestion has worsened alongside it or, in its vicinity. This is a scandal. It is sheer stupidity as resource depletion, that also enhances the greenhouse effect, both take off big time. Fifty billions for the unnecessary, extravagant, flash, High Prestige 2 rail line but not a fraction of that cost for a southern or Black Country extension of the Walsall to Rugeley commuter line and, possible inter-city line. Nothing, too, for the commuter congestion busting Camp Hill line to go into Moor Street Sta instead of New Street. This is truly scandalous.
My rail advisor has written,
" ... History is behind us and a train could run from Cheltenham or from Oxford through Worcester to Dudley and then to Walsall. From Walsall a train could continue to Rugeley and then up the main electrified route to Stafford and Crewe."
In addition:
“A visitor to the West Midlands really would like to have a local rail network and stations reopened in places such as Kings Heath, Moseley and Dudley.”
No comments:
Post a Comment