West Midlands Railway

[Stu]

They should get the platform displays to display the correct information at the very least.
I did message WMR on twitter as well asking what was happening and there response was "the 18:52 is at the station now" When there was obviously nothing there.

 I'm not sure where they advised that this morning but there were clearly many other people on that platform going home from work, some people have to travel.

And how was that 196 able to depart the station for Birmingham if it's blocked somewhere, how far did it get?

Does anyone know if they are going to be running to/from Kidderminster tomorrow?

Snow Hill lines are running again this morning.
https://www.westmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travel-information/journey-planning/live-departure-arrival-boards?station=KID

[Bob]

The diagrammed unit, a 730

Which judging by the 1645 today ( which still hasnt left and is absolutely rammed ) are poor compared with the 4 car trains they spent a fortune lengthening Chase line platforms for. Theres a right reduction in seats

[mikestone]

From recent postings elsewhere it would seem BHI-Rugeley 100% 730 now.
;
It would appear there are still trains at Bromsgrove, Northfield, Longbridge and Kings Norton from Saturday, as well presumably a 350 at Stone thanks to Darragh.

[2206]

From recent postings elsewhere it would seem BHI-Rugeley 100% 730 now.
;
It would appear there are still trains at Bromsgrove, Northfield, Longbridge and Kings Norton from Saturday, as well presumably a 350 at Stone thanks to Darragh.

730s do Birmingham International - Rugeley Trent Valley also the last runs into Coventry in the evening as well I believe as I've seen one on the 23:21 to Coventry.
I'm guessing they do the reverse journey early in the morning as well.

[twbc99]

Which judging by the 1645 today ( which still hasnt left and is absolutely rammed ) are poor compared with the 4 car trains they spent a fortune lengthening Chase line platforms for. Theres a right reduction in seats

The minimum seats a 350 has is 230 and 20 meter vehicles. A 3 car 730 has 201 seats and 24? meter vehicles so overall they are only about 8 meters shorter.

[Tony]

The minimum seats a 350 has is 230 and 20 meter vehicles. A 3 car 730 has 201 seats and 24? meter vehicles so overall they are only about 8 meters shorter.

and with only two gangways, not 3 gives an extra couple of meters passenger space as well

[Bob]

and with only two gangways, not 3 gives an extra couple of meters passenger space as well

The 350/2s would have had fare more seatimg capacity. Service is a joke atm. 1545 pulls into brum. Passengers get off and its showing as cancelled and still sat there. Something about not enough crew. Which will mean 1615 is hell.

[Tony]

The 350/2s would have had fare more seatimg capacity. Service is a joke atm. 1545 pulls into brum. Passengers get off and its showing as cancelled and still sat there. Something about not enough crew. Which will mean 1615 is hell.

1615 hardly hell only half a dozen standing in my coach front New Street,  a few more from Waksall but also a few seats not being usef

[Bob]

1615 hardly hell only half a dozen standing in my coach front New Street,  a few more from Waksall but also a few seats not being usef

I was on the very first coach it was rammed 

[Tony]

I was on the very first coach it was rammed

That's because you are with all the people who just stand at the bottom of the escalator. I was in Coach 2, coach 3 had even more room

[cardew]

That's because you are with all the people who just stand at the bottom of the escalator. I was in Coach 2, coach 3 had even more room

While not saying this was the case here, people amaze me with the cross city line southbound. Crowds just stand at the B end of the platform and wedge their way on, hardly anyone walks down to the A end where the emptier carriages will be.  Also at the A end you can get further away from the Cross Country diesel fumes (isn't CAZ great?) and engine racket.

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

While not saying this was the case here, people amaze me with the cross city line southbound. Crowds just stand at the B end of the platform and wedge their way on, hardly anyone walks down to the A end where the emptier carriages will be.  Also at the A end you can get further away from the Cross Country diesel fumes (isn't CAZ great?) and engine racket.

Bit similar to Buses then everyone except make the A and B into a Double Decker everyone rushes to the nearest downstairs Seats so the B End first/last coach and then no one or very few go upstairs (A End) making the Train looked rammed so Passengers who get on after assume the Train is busy so Don't bother going into another is near enough empty. It annoys me, unless there is a legitimate reason for the Train to be busy ie To Small like CrossCountry last one or two were cancelled, there should be enough room even if one is cancelled just no one choses to use it.

[Sh4318]

As a regular user of the Walsall to Wolves line, these 730s are regularly heavily loaded with (off peak) few available seats or (peak) standing room only. Don't get me wrong, the class 350s weren't perfect, but there was a much better chance of getting a seat, and overcrowding didn't seem like as much of an issue.

Of course, given the nature of the Walsall to Wolves line with stops mostly 2-4 minutes away, they are much more suitable. I admit 6 carriages for peak times would be overkill, but 3 certainly isn't enough