The Anonymous Widower

Will High Speed Two Lite Make Stafford An Important Station?

Stafford station is where the Trent Valley Line joins the West Coast Main Line and with the current proposals for High Speed Two, which I refer to as High Speed Two Light, it will also have to handle those High Speed Two services to and from Crewe.

Current Services Through Stafford Station

These are current services through Stafford station.

• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Birmingham – 2 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central via Birmingham – 5 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Edinburgh via Birmingham – 7 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Trent Valley – 1 tpd – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Non-Stop
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Holyhead via Trent Valley – 8 tpd  – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• CrossCountry – Birmingham New Street and Manchester via Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent – 2 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
• West Midlands – London Euston and Crewe via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Crewe via Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street via Wolverhampton – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe

Note.

1. tpd is trains per day.
2. tph is trains per hour.
3. Through Stafford station, there are totals of 23 tpd and 8 tph.
4. Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 9 tpd and 4 tph.
5. North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 23 tpd and 4 tph.
6. South of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 14 tpd and 4 tph.
7. Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 3 tph.

Stafford is a very busy station.

Services have these frequencies from Stafford.

• Crewe – 21 tpd and 3 tph.
• Stoke-on-Trent – 3 tph.
• London Euston – 23 tpd and 4 tph.
• Wolverhampton – 13 tpd and 4 tph.

Could Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford do with a few extra services?

High Speed Two Services Through Stafford Station

This graphic shows High Speed Two services after Phase 2b is completed.

Note.

1. Services shown in blue are run by High Speed Two Full Size trains.
2. Services shown in yellow are run by High Speed Two Classic-Compatible  trains.
3. Each of these trains will have a frequency of one tph.

These could be High Speed Two services through Stafford station, when High Speed Two Lite opens.

• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Macclesfield via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 3 tph
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph

Note.

1. Through Stafford station, there are totals of 11 tph.
2. Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 11 tph.
3. North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 11 tph.
4. Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 1 tph.

There are a lot of trains to squeeze through. But remember that High Speed Two signalling is designed to handle 18 tph.

Combined Services Through Stafford Station

These could be the combined current High Speed Two services through Stafford station, when High Speed Two Lite opens.

• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Birmingham – 2 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central via Birmingham – 5 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Edinburgh via Birmingham – 7 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Trent Valley – 1 tpd – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Glasgow Central via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Non-Stop
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Holyhead via Trent Valley – 8 tpd  – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• CrossCountry – Birmingham New Street and Manchester via Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent – 2 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
• West Midlands – London Euston and Crewe via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Crewe via Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street via Wolverhampton – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Macclesfield via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 3 tph
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph

Note.

1. Through Stafford station, there are totals of 23 tpd and 19 tph.
2. Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 9 tpd and 15 tph.
3. North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 23 tpd and 15 tph.
4. Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 4 tph.

But there are duplicate services.

High Speed Two services to Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland, will replace Avanti West Coast services.

High Speed Two services between Birmingham and Manchester, will replace CrossCountry services.

Removing these current services gives.

• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Birmingham – 2 tpd – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Blackpool North via Trent Valley – 1 tpd – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• Avanti West Coast – London Euston and Holyhead via Trent Valley – 8 tpd  – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• West Midlands – London Euston and Crewe via Trent Valley – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Crewe via Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe
• West Midlands – Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street via Wolverhampton – 1 tph – Stops at Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street/Lancaster via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Crewe
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Macclesfield via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph – Stops at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 3 tph
• High Speed Two – London Euston and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Glasgow/Edinburgh via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 1 tph
• High Speed Two – Birmingham and Manchester Piccadilly via High Speed Two and Trent Valley Line – 2 tph

Note.

1. Through Stafford station, there are totals of 11 tpd and 14 tph.
2. Along the Trent Valley Line, there are totals of 11 tpd and 12 tph.
3. North of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 9 tpd and 12 tph.
4. South of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line, there are totals of 2 tpd and 2 tph.
5. Between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, there are totals of 2 tph.

With these frequencies, I suspect digital signalling will be needed.

Services have these frequencies from Stafford.

• Crewe – 11 tpd and 5 tph.
• Stoke-on-Trent – 2 tph.
• London Euston – 11 tpd and 4 tph.
• Wolverhampton – 3 tpd and 2 tph.

Note.

1. Stoke-on-Trent needs more trains.
2. There is virtually no trains on the West Coast Main Line to the South of Stafford.
3. The frequencies indicate digital signalling will be needed.

On this brief look, I think that High Speed Two Lite will open up a lot of possibilities.

 

 

October 7, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry Trains, Digital Signalling, High Speed Two, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, High Speed Two Full-Size Trains, High Speed Two Lite, Stafford Station, Stoke-on-Trent Station, Trent Valley Line, West Coast Main Line, West Midlands Trains, Wolverhampton Station