Wolverhampton Says Go
Wolverhampton station has a few problems in the past.
- It was short of capacity and a new through platform 4 has been built.
- It needed to be linked to the buses, and a new bus station has been built nearby.
- The Midland Metro terminated in the City Centre, not at the station.
This Google Map shows from the station to the current tram stop.
Wolverhampton City Centre
Note the bus station, which is the three pronged building to the South West of the station on the other side of the dual carriageway.
The current tram stop at St. George’s is the blue dot in the bottom left corner of the map.
Today, this article has been published in the Wolverhampton Express and Star, which is entitled Wolverhampton train station’s new look revealed. This is said.
The artist’s impressions were revealed at an international property conference being held in Cannes as part of the council’s presentation showcasing the city’s regeneration successes and future developments.
Work is due to start on the new railway station next year following the extension and refurbishment of the railway station multi-storey car park, which is expected to be completed by Christmas.
The revamp is part of the £120 million Interchange project that will also see a Metro line extension, including a new stop at the station.
So positive things seem to be happening. This is a visualisation.
The Planned Wolverhampton Station
Note the tram and the lines in front of the station.
This section in Wikipedia details how the trams will link to the station. This is an extract.
In March 2014, it was announced that the Wolverhampton Extension would go ahead as part of a £2bn connectivity package. The new line would see two new stops built at Piper’s Row and Wolverhampton Railway Station, which will see trams terminate alternately at the Rail station and at the existing St George’s stop.
It’s a pity, that the tram isn’t being extended to Molineux.
What Is Happening On The Midland Metro?
I am looking forward to taking a train to Birmingham and then getting on a tram of the Midland Metro at New Street station.
This article in Construction Enquirer is entitled Balfour months late on £127m Birmingham Metro and gives some details of the delays.
But surely, this project should have been delivered some months ago?
The article also says that the trams will reach Centenary Square in 2019. As these will be battery operated trams, it does seem a rather long time to create just a few stops without any catenary.
Compare the progress of expansion in Birmingham to that in Manchester, where a much more complicated Second City Crossing is being built and you come to some interesting conclusions about Birmingham and the delivery of projects for the Midland Metro..
Brummies Go For Battery Trams
The Midland Metro has several extensions in the planning stage and this article in Global Rail News is entitled Approval for catenary-free trams in Birmingham.
So the Metro’s Urbos 3 trams will be fitted with batteries to allow them to travel without the need for overhead wires on extensions to the current system.
It is not new unproven technology as the trams’ builder; CAF have buuilt battery-powered Urbos 3 trams for Seville some years ago. They are also used in Cadiz and Zaragoza.
The article in Global Rail News says this.
Birmingham will be the first city in the UK to use the technology. The batteries will be fitted to the roof of the vehicles and recharge when the tram moves back under the wires.
Routes identified for catenary-free operation include the entire Birmingham Centenary Square extension, the Birmingham-Edgbaston extension, the Birmingham Eastside extension, which will stop at the future Curzon Street HS2 station, and the Wolverhampton city centre extension.
Removing the need for overhead lines on these routes will save £650,000, ITA has said. However, the cost of procuring and installing the batteries isn’t yet known.
As Edinburgh Trams also use the same Urbos 3 trams, I wonder if Edinburgh will use similar technology to extend their tram system. The city had a lot of trouble putting up the wires, so surely a system without them may save money and time on the construction.
after the order for Arriva Rail North’s New Trains, CAF seem to be doing well in the UK.
Where will their battery trams be seen next?
It would have to be on a new system, rather than an update to an existing one.
But I do think, that Blackpool’s proposed extension to Blackpool North station could use Bombardier’s version of the battery technology.
This video on YouTube shows Bombardier’s Primove system. It’s probably more advanced than the CAF system.
An Easy Extension To The Midland Metro?
In between my two sets of pictures of the Midland Metro in Birmingham City Centre, I took a trip out from Bull Street to Wednesbury. This Google Map shows the tram at Wednesbury.
Trams At Wednesbury
The tram route curves across the bottom, with the depot to the south of the route.
Note the dark scar crossing the tram route at right angles to the East of the tram depot. This is the South Staffordshire Line, that has been proposed as conversion into an extension of the Midland Metro from Wednesbury to Merry Hill.
One complication is that Network Rail have plans to convert the disused line into a freight route. But then if the Class 399 tram-train trial in Sheffield goes well, then why not use them here?
In some ways one of the great advantages of this extension, is that it could share the depot at Wednesbury. Also, as all the land for the junction between the two lines is probably owned by Network Rail or the tram, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to build the junction, so that trams on the branch can go to both Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
It is interesting to note, that after a slow start, expansion of the Manchester Metrolink is now moving on apace.
Is the Midland Metro going to do the same?
The Midland Metro Extension Is Nearly There!
The Midland Metro is now running into Birmingham City Centre by bypassing Birmingham Snow Hill station and running initially to a stop at Bull Street. I visited Birmingham today and took these pictures.
Note the following.
- There are two sets of pictures. In the first, I walked to Bull Street and in the second I took the tram there.
- The tram route enters Birmingham City Centre on a viaduct alongside Snow Hill station.
- It would appear that the stop at Birmingham Snow Hill station is being built on the viaduct.
- The stop at Corporation Street is still being built.
- There would appear to be no stop alongside New Street station.
I can’t see the line opening for a few months yet.
The Midland Metro Is Set For Expansion
This article in Rail News is entitled .Major Midland Metro expansion plans unveiled. It lays out how after a devolution deal for the West Midlands there is going to be new lines on the Midland Metro. The article says this.
A new ‘HS2 connectivity package’ will include new tram lines from the HS2 station at Birmingham Curzon Street to Birmingham Airport via Bordesley Green and Chelmsley Wood, and between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill — a destination which was an aspiration of local Metro planners even before the first section opened in 1999 between Snow Hill and Wolverhampton St George’s.
It is certainly a substantial expansion.
Birmingham Curzon Street to Birmingham Airport
The history of the proposed Line Two linking to Birmingham Curzon Street station for HS2 and Birmingham Airport, is given in Line Two East Side Extension of the Wikipedia entry for the Midland Metro.
There would appear to be no mention of Bordesley Green and Chelmsley Wood, so I would assume that the route has been changed.
Wikipedia also mentions serving Coventry station, but the Rail News article doesn’t. I suspect that as Coventry is part of the devolution plans, that Line Two will go to the city!
Wednesbury To Brierley Hill
This proposal for this line, which links both Birmingham and Wolverhampton to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, is better developed and some details are given in this section of the Wikipedia entry for the Midland Metro.
The proposal utilises the disused South Staffordshire Line, which to complicate matters Network Rail want to open for freight.
In January I published Will Dudley Get A National Very Light Rail Innovation Centre?, which also throws some extra factors into the knitting.
In the Midland Metro entry for this line, this is said.
Centro has stated that the WBHE would provide 10 trams per hour, alternately serving Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Journey time from Brierley Hill to West Bromwich was stated as 31 minutes.
So if it is intended that this line runs trams to both Birmingham and Wolverhampton and it will also carry freight, then it seems to me, that by using something like Class 399 tram-trains, you can be all things to all stakeholders.
If you look at the South Staffordshire Line north of the proposed junction with the Midland Metro, it is a mass of working and disused railway lines, that ultimately terminate on the West Coast Main Line at Lichfield Trent Valley station.
Given that the article in Rail News talks of improvements to the West Coast Main Line, I can’t believe that in the future the South Staffordshire Line is not developed as a cross city line from Lichfield to Stourbridge.
Conclusion
The West Midlands is going to see a lot of rail and tram development in the next few years.
Councillor David Lawrence, who chair of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, is quoted as saying this about the schemes.
The agreement will see Whitehall make an annual contribution of £40 million for 30 years to support investment worth £8 billion, which it claimed will support the creation of more than half a million jobs.
Will the Brummies go for it?
How Long Will We Wait For A Tram At Birmingham New Street Station?
The Midland Metro extension to Birmingham City Centre and New Street station was supposed to be completed by March 2015.
It is still not connected at Birmingham Snow Hill station to allow access across the city to Birmingham New Street station.
It had been previously announced that trams would reach New Street station, this year, so I was surprised to red this article on Global Rail News entitled Birmingham New Street tram extension delayed until 2016. The article says this.
Trams won’t reach Birmingham New Street until the New Year after Centro announced that work would be scaled back to support traders ahead of the Christmas period.
It’s probably the most valid reason, I’ve heard for a delay, but it does strike me that if the trams had reached New Street in March, they would have brought more visitors to Birmingham City Centre for Christmas.
If I was the Mayor of Birmingham, I’d be kicking a few backsides.
Rail’s Forgotten City In The West Midlands
Whilst I was looking at the problems at Coventry Arena station, I came across this document entitled Coventry Rail Story – A Rail Investment Strategy for Coventry.
The report starts like this.
Coventry is the 13th largest City in the UK, with a population of 317,000. Following the loss of its primary manufacturing role in the 1970s, the City has significantly developed its service, health, technology and knowledge economy and 2 universities. However, Coventry has higher unemployment and lower economic output than the UK average.
By 2021 Coventry’s population will grow by 15%, nearly 50,000 people, faster than any other part of the West Midlands, with 33,000 new jobs required by 2028. Its key strategy is growth via employment rather than housing, avoiding becoming an unsustainable dormitory city.
It then goes on to describes the problems and opportunities in various areas.
- How will HS2 affect the City
- It’s lack of connectivity on Cross-Country rail routes, especially to the North East
- Getting To And From Birmingham
- Better Local and Regional Connectivity
- The Tired Coventry Station
It is well researched document and should be read.
Welcome To Coventry
It is interesting to compare the developments that have happened in Nottingham to what should happen in Coventry.
Arriving by train in the two cities couldn’t be more different.
Nottingham welcomes you with a rebuilt station with style and character and in minutes you can be on a tram to the city centre or other parts of the city. You can also get several local trains to suburbs and the surrounding area.
Coventry welcomes you with a tired (the report’s word!) 1960s box station, where the onward connections to the city centre are either walking or a taxi. A sadist built the bus station on the opposite side of the city centre to the rail station. Hadn’t they heard of designing a proper Interchange? This Google Map shows the location of Coventry station with respect to the city centre and its surrounding ring-road.
Coventry Station And City Centre
When you consider the new station at Birmingham, Coventry station doesn’t match up to the opposition and probably contributes negatively to visitors view of the city.
How many jobs does the station cost Coventry?
NUCKLE
NUCKLE is a project to improve the rail services between Coventry and Nuneaton and Leamington.
Phase 1 is described on this page of the Warwickshire County Council website. This is said.
The Coventry to Nuneaton rail upgrade, known locally as NUCKLE Phase 1, will improve the existing rail line between Coventry and Nuneaton. It will deliver two new stations – one at Coventry (Ricoh) Arena and one at Bermuda Park in Warwickshire. It will also see the extensions of the existing platforms at Bedworth station and a new bay platform at Coventry station.
The related phase 2 includes the new station at Kenilworth.
As part of the Electric Spine, the Coventry to Leamington Line is going to be electrified and doubled. The Coventry Rail Story says that Coventry to Nuneaton Line will also be electrified.
I suspect this will happen, as NUCKLE is in the West Midlands and they seem to get electrification done. So there will be approximately twenty miles of electrified line passing North-South through Coventry.
So would this open up the possibility of an electric service from Oxford to Leicester via Kenilworth, using Aventra IPEMUs, which could bridge the gaps in the electrification between Leamington Spa and Oxford and Nuneaton to Leicester.
This would fit the aspiration in the Coventry Rail Story of an improved train service between Coventry and Leicester via Nuneaton.
The Coventry to Nuneaton Line used to have other stations. So the question has to be asked if other stations can be built between Leamington Spa and Nuneaton to improve commuting into Coventry,
Extending The Midland Metro To Coventry
Extending the Midland Metro to Coventry is being considered in the Line Two Eastside Extension.
This may happen, but I have a feeling that new technology might offer better solutions to improving connections between Birmingham, the Airport, HS2 and Coventry
Walking The Contours In Birmingham City Centre
I tend to walk the contours, when I walk. This means you tend to walk on the level and you often only have one stiff uphill section when you feel you can tackle it.
Birmingham is on a hill with the cathedral on the top. Now that I know the city better, if I’m walking across the city, I might walk towards the cathedral, as although some of the route will be uphill, as I’m probably going on my way from any of the three stations at Moor Street, New Street and Snow Hill and it will be downhill all the way from the cathedral. This is a Google Map of Birmingham city centre.
Birmingham City Centre
The canal behind the hotel runs South-Esterly from the Sea Life Centre.
My plan when I left the hotel in the morning was fairly simple. It was to walk down the hill and then walk across to New Street station, which is the other side of the dual-carriageway road, hoping that most of the route was flat. Once at the station, I would buy my West Midlands Day Ranger ticket and my paper and then walk up the hill to Carluccio’s for some breakfast. After breakfast, when the Museum opened, I would would go and see the Staffordshire hoard. I tok these pictures as I walked.
Very little of the walk was uphill. In fact some parts like through the ICC, were actually inside.
I think one of the troubles Birmingham has is that the road layout was determined in the 1960s, when the powers that be felt that everybody would have a car and would want to drive it into the city centre.
Now that the Midland Metro is coming and this will go from New Street Station, up to the Town Hall and then past Centenary Square and Brindley Place on its way to Five Ways, the priorities are all different. The tram route will give people two ways from New Street to get up the slight hill to the axis of the city running from Brindley Place through Centenary Square, past the Town Hall and the Museum to the Cathedral. Someone has thought out how the tram can benefit Birmingham city centre.
Incidentally, I do hope passengers don’t have to buy tickets on the tram by then, as they do now. I will celebrate with joy, when I enter a tram or bus, somewhere in the UK outside of London, by just tapping in with my contactless bank card.
It’s not paying my fare that I object to, it’s having to give over money and get a flimsy piece of paper in return. Drivers on the whole think cash in unsafe! For them! What’s wrong with tapping my bank card on a reader?
Incidentally, I think that the Cross-City Line crossed under my walk by my hotel. Why does it not have more stops in the city centre? The building that is the Nitenite hotel, should have been built over the railway with a station underneath. It certainly would be nowadays.
Walking The Route Of The Midland Metro Line One Extension
I’ve walked the Line One Extension of the Midland Metro between New Street and Snow Hill stations before, but I’ve never walked the proposed extension as far as Five Ways. I took these pictures on the route.
The Extension was planned to be opened to Centenary Square in 2017 and to Brindleyplace, Five Ways and Egdbaston later. Nothing much seems to be happening past New Street station, except for some utility works, which must be sorted before tram tracks and station are put over the top.
The walk is fairly easy, but the last section around Five Ways and to Five Ways station was designed using Birmingham’s 1960s philosophy of deling with traffic and pedestrians, that I’ve seen going to Birmingham City several times – Pedestrians should be channelled into dangerous areas, so they are run over and killed. This would of course make it less likely a driver will damage his car, by hitting one.
Birmingham could do a lot worse than extend the tram to Five Ways. Some of the running routes would be challenging and Birmingham’s many drivers would probably object, but if they want more visitors to the City, surely it is a price worth paying?
I do wonder about the costs of extending tram lines, as opposed to building new ones. Obviously, some costs like new trams and getting power to the trams will be minimised, but you’ve still got the costs of actually putting in the rails and divering utilities.
The Anonymous Widower 