I attended my first Railfuture national conference on Saturday 7 November in Bristol.
Steve Wright, Secretary of Railfuture West Midlands, suggested a semi-fast rail service on the Black Country Line for the 38 Km from Stourbridge to Lichfield and a further 36 Km on the present freight only line from Lichfield direct to Derby, instead of passengers having to go via Tamworth. Those 74 Km (over a 100 Km from Worcester) could, perhaps, take Euro-style, sleek, white, ICE trains. Brilliant! In the meantime, diesel trains from lines finally electrified might be used. Therefore, cheaper, simpler and easier to achieve than the new mode, tram-train.
It would be the first rail project in Dudley and Walsall for over 100 years, after decades of the total destruction of the tram network, then destruction of half the rail network. This was followed by the construction (at least 1 Km on a rail line) of fast roads and motorways quickly delivered, one after the other and, over very many miles.
After very many years of asking, Dudley borough on the shortest branch line in the UK, was eventually allowed to have the much more sensible Parry People Mover taking over from a DMU that had to travel over from the other side of Brum every morning and back in the evening!
Re-learn the wisdom of our forebears of putting trains where the people live and work.
The Black Country Line gives us the choice of a train into Brum from Dudley or a train as a direct service to the south or north of the UK. The new line bypasses Birmingham Grand Central and Wolverhampton but with a link to both by changing at Dudley Port on the WCML.
No comments:
Post a Comment