The next West Midlands franchise

[Roy]

It's just been announced.  The winner is ............ Abellio.
Details are at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-seats-for-rail-passengers-as-nearly-1-billion-is-invested-in-midlands-services.

Interestingly, 100 new carriages for Cross City and 80 new carriages for Snow Hill lines. 

[Dylanbusboy45]

"Passengers on London services will benefit from 225 brand new carriages, with all other carriages being completely refurbished."

"New trains will be arriving in the north-west on the Liverpool to Birmingham line, which passes through Crewe and Winsford. These are longer and have more seats for passengers than the existing trains."

"The carriages for the Cross City line will offer metro-style services with increased space to carry more passengers, and wider doors for quicker access."

I wonder if the new Cross city units will be similar to the crossrail 345s currently being built??
Not sure why the 172s need replacing already though and the 350s aren't exactly that old

[Tony]

"Passengers on London services will benefit from 225 brand new carriages, with all other carriages being completely refurbished."



I wonder if the new Cross city units will be similar to the crossrail 345s currently being built??
Not sure why the 172s need replacing already though and the 350s aren't exactly that old

It doesn't say the 172s will be replaced. For Snow Hill line it says carriages will be fully refurbished supported by 80 new carriages

[Dylanbusboy45]

It doesn't say the 172s will be replaced. For Snow Hill line it says carriages will be fully refurbished supported by 80 new carriages

Yes I understand that now reading it again. With 80 new carriages surely more than just the 153s and 150s are going so possibly the 170s as well?

[Tony]

Yes I understand that now reading it again. With 80 new carriages surely more than just the 153s and 150s are going so possibly the 170s as well?

Interestly for Birmingham - Hereford no mention of new or refurbished stock!
Birmingham to Shrewsbury does say trains fully refurbished, so it looks like 170s are staying

[Roy]

The West Midlands and Chiltern Route Study published last week by Network Rail suggested that 13 additional carriages would be needed for the Snow Hill lines by 2023.  There are currently 69 Class 172 carriages in use, so I would guess that replacing them with 80 new carriages (hopefully with higher capacity per carriage) is the option.  Could this mean that the Class 172s would then be refurbished and cascaded to other lines such as Shrewsbury and Hereford to get rid of the older classes (150, 153, 170)?

[The Real 4778]

The 150s go off to Northern and the 153s are not PRM-TSI compliant, and unlikely to be made so; thus the 15X fleets won't be around in 2020.

[mikestone]

The government statement refers to longer trains for Birmingham-Liverpool but doesn't mention it in the benefits by route. On the other hand it does under Birmingham-Crewe.
;
The only thing not required by the ITT seems to be the half-hourly Coventry-Leamington service.

[Tony]

The government statement refers to longer trains for Birmingham-Liverpool but doesn't mention it in the benefits by route. On the other hand it does under Birmingham-Crewe.
;
The only thing not required by the ITT seems to be the half-hourly Coventry-Leamington service.

I am wondering if the longer trains are the 707s which are 5 car

[mikestone]

Interesting that nowhere do any of the announcements seem refer to an increase in fleet size. I wonder if the 137 vehicles refered to in the Route Study was what what GOVIA was offering?

[The Real 4778]

Interesting that nowhere do any of the announcements seem refer to an increase in fleet size. I wonder if the 137 vehicles referred to in the Route Study was what what GOVIA was offering?

I understand that the 137 was calculated away from the specific franchisee by NR, TfWM and DfT, based on statutorily produced data.

I believe the fleet size will actually increase by 85 vehicles (or possibly slightly more) with 405 stated new and 320 being returned to their leasing companies (Porterbrook having 314 of these).

[Steve3229vp]

What about the Camp Hill Line (Moor Street - Hazelwell - Kings Heath) ?
This would benefit people in Kings Heath in a big way !

[The Real 4778]

What about the Camp Hill Line (Moor Street - Hazelwell - Kings Heath) ?
This would benefit people in Kings Heath in a big way !

It's in the Network Rail document for a study, so there is hope.  No mention of it in the winning bid so far as we have seen, although no doubt it can be a priced variation or future option fairly easily.  You're right too, it is long overdue.

[Bob]

Any mention of the Chase line ?

[The Real 4778]

Any mention of the Chase line ?

The Birmingham Chase line (Birmingham – Walsall – Cannock – Rugeley) will benefit by:
•electric rolling stock introduced following the completion of the on-going electrification works
•a half-hourly service between Birmingham, Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley Monday to Saturday by December 2018 and on Sundays by May 2021
•earlier and later services between Birmingham and Walsall, and between Birmingham and Rugeley Trent Valley including on a Sunday
•new direct services between Walsall and London during rush hours (with 2 morning services into London and 2 evening peak services returning from London) from December 2018
•a service quality regime to improve the quality of stations, trains and customer service for passengers