Match Three – Birmingham 2 – Ipswich 2
Birmingham City is one of the easier away grounds to get to at a weekend, as to get to the ground it’s a ten minute walk from Bordesley station.
But yesterday, I decided to try to use the buses, so I was told to get a 17 from outside Moor Street station. I managed it easily to get there, but coming home, I would have had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus, so I virtually walked it back into the centre, before I got a taxi from the Coach Station to New Street station.
The dangerous roads were no better.
I know most away fans, these days go by coach or car, but surely, as Leeds do, they should organise a taxi queue after the match for the lost. Birmingham City might do, but the stewards had no idea.
As it was I missed my 22:10 station and had to wait for the 23:10. At least though, I was able to buy some gluten-free sandwiches and a drink in the Marks there and New Street is not the dismal, dirty and draughty station of the near past.
Late Night Sandwiches
I actually had a choice of two types. When did a coeliac last have a choice of gluten-free sandwiches at 23:00 anywhere?
The Virgin train was the pick-up-the-stragglers service from Edinburgh and made it home a few minutes early, so I was in bed at a reasonable hour.
The football was another scrappy match, but at least we scraped a draw in the last minute.
Inflated Balloons Are Allowed On Birmingham Buses
Unlike in Liverpool, inflated balloons are obviously allowed on Birmingham buses, as no-one objected to this group of people doing so.
Inflated Balloons Are Allowed On Birmingham Buses
Why should Liverpool have a ban, when no-one else seems to?
Flowers Maketh The City
Wandering round Birmingham yesterday, I was pleased to see the city was more colourful.
There’s no doubt in my mind, that flowers can improve the city.
Birmingham at the present time, also has a floral trail linked to the anniversary of the Great War.
Birmingham Has Now Got Liths
I was pleased to see that Birmingham has now got maps on liths all over the city centre.
It certainly makes finding your way easier and I used a totally different and more interesting route to get to Carluccio’s from Moor Street station.
Now they need decent street and route maps on every bus stop in the city.
A Stroke Of Genius
As I walked through the centre of Birmingham, I came across a very crowded square.
It was Genius giving out free gluten-free toasted sandwiches.
What a good marketing idea!
I don’t actually eat Genius bread any more as my local Waitrose doesn’t stock it and I do like Marks and Spencer’s new gluten free breads. They also keep longer in the bread bin!
There’s a gluten-free bread war out thereand the only beneficiaries will be those like me, who have or wish to avoid gluten.
The Trams Are Arriving At Birmingham New Street
This picture was the best I could take, which shows the work on the Midland Metro to bring it to Birmingham New Street station.
The Trams Are Arriving At Birmingham New Street
It is scheduled to open in 2015 and will eventually go on to the Town Hall and Centenary Square in 2017.
There is also news today, that the operator will make a decision, whether to order more Spanish-built trams by the end of the year.
Changing Trains At Liverpool
To get from Birmingham to Preston, I took a London Midland train to Liverpool, from where I got a local service to Lancashire’s County Town.
The first train was excellent, as one of the pictures shows. It cost me £24.10 in First, but I had a big table to myself. I’ve used the company before when travelling between Liverpool and Birmingham and I prefer them to Virgin for that route.
Liverpool is a good interchange, as the station is close to Liverpool’s magnificent Civic Buildings. You can also walk down to the Mersey and then get a train back from St. James’s Street. I know that I know Liverpool well, but it must be the only city in England, where the iconic sites can be reached by walking downhill. But then it seems that few city centre stations are close to the shops and attractions. Some like Leeds and Nottingham mean an uphill walk.
On this trip, I’d picked up some sandwiches in Birmingham New Street Station, so all I did was visit the Walker Art Gallery or the National Gallery of the North, as it is sometimes called. We need more attractions like this, close to major interchange railway stations.
The poor part of the trip, was the train from Liverpool to Preston. it was one of Northern Rail’s Class 156, which after the two other trains of the day, was a real drop in standards.
Hauled By A Diesel Locomotive To Birmingham
Since yesterday, I’ve tried to think when was the last time I was hauled around the country by a diesel Locomotive. You may get the occasional diesel multiple unit, but rakes of carriages hauled by a diesel locomotive are pretty rare, and even more so in Europe.
Except for a trip on a sleeper, it must be in the 1980s, when I was last hauled by a diesel locomotive, probably between Ipswich and London.
So yesterday on my trip North to Birmingham, I decided to go from Marylebone for a change.
It was definititely a smoother and more comfortable ride in a Mark 3 Coach hauled by a clean Class 67. Compare the engine, with the blood spattered Class 90, I got for the trip to Ipswich on Saturday.
It was also nice to see Mark 3 Coaches laid out in Standard Class how they had been designed, with a table and a window for all passengers.
If all Standard Class coaches were like this, would anybody pay the extra for First Class?
And when will we be seeing comfortable Mark 3 coaches with sliding doors on London to Norwich?
I wonder how many people, who travel between London and Birmingham on Chiltern Railways, realise that they’re sitting in a coach that dates from the 1970s or 1980s?
What this line now needs is electrification and some appropriate electric locomotives to haul the trains between the two cities and probably on to a few places beyond Birminhgham. If for no other reason, we’ll need extra capacity, if and whilst Euston is rebuilt for HS2.
Next time, I go to Birmingham, I’ll use Chiltern from Marylebone. It is slower at one hour and forty-four minutes, as against one hour twenty-six on Virgin, but it avoids Euston, the trains are more comfortable, wi-fi is free and outside of the peak, I can lay my paper out to read it properly.
A Reply From Birmingham
After Ipswich played at Birmingham a couple of months ago, I posted an Open Letter To the Mayor of Birmingham. I posted a copy to him and today, I got a substantive reply from someone at the council. This is the e-mail I received.
Thank you for forwarding me the link to your open letter and I am sorry to hear that your recent visitor experience to Birmingham was not a good one.
As you mentioned New Street Station is currently undergoing a major rebuild as part of the Birmingham Gateway project. In April this year the east side of the station complex (the side closest to the pedestrian link to Moor Street station) was closed to facilitate the rebuild if that part of the development. This means that until the reopening of the whole station in the spring of 2015, pedestrians seeking to travel to Moor Street station will have to walk a less direct route around the station from the west side entrance. Whilst temporary pedestrian signage has been put in place which is soon to be supplemented with permanent “way finding” signs, we will respond to your feedback and look at ways the current signing arrangements can be enhanced to improve clarity for visitors.
With regard to the issue of pedestrians crossing at the Bordesley Circus junction I am pleased to say the City Council has recently been successful in securing for the necessary funding from the Department for Transport to carry out whole sale improvements to the roundabout. These improvements will include the provision of signal controlled crossings to help the pedestrian movement you have described and completion of the works is currently programmed by early 2015 at the latest.
That is very fair and it is good to see that progress is being made on the dangerous junction at Bordesley Circus.
An Open Letter To The Lord Mayor Of Birmingham
My blood was boiling yesterday after struggling to get to the football at Birmingham and feel that this post is the best way to respond.
I am an Ipswich Town supporter who lives in London, so I came up to the match on Saturday, by Virgin Trains to New Street and then took the local train to Bordesley for St. Andrews. I should also say, I’m 66 and had a serious stroke three years ago, but I don’t find walking a kilometre or so, much of a problem.
I know New Street station is in a state of reconstruction at the moment, but the information on how to get to Bordesley was non-existent at the station. It probably took me about twenty minutes to find anybody, who knew how to get there. Some signage and tourist information in the station would have helped.
I was eventually told to walk to Moor Street station and as there was only a few temporary signs outside, I got lost and it took me at least thirty minutes to get to the other station. The signs petered out and I ended up lost in the Bull Ring shopping centre. Judging by the number of people I saw in Ipswich Town football shirts, I wasn’t the only lost soul either. Some were getting a big edgy, but then Ipswich fans are generally a calm bunch.
I know Bordesley station isn’t the most modern, but at least the trains work well to get there. However, the walk from the station to the ground, must be the most dangerous walk to get to any football ground from its local station in the UK. In the end fans have to rush a busy road and then a dual-carriageway, as there is no controlled crossing or any other help.
I wonder how many people will get seriously injured or even killed on that route in the next few years.
If Birmingham is serious in attracting business and tourism, then it should do something to make walking around the city, easier with more information and safe walking routes.
It is probably the worst major city in England for pedestrians.
The Anonymous Widower 