Camp Hill Line - Moseley, Kings Heath & Hazelwell

[Stu]

Government confirms it is 'looking into' plans to re-open stations along the Camp Hill Line:
https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/regional-affairs/government-plans-kings-heath-moseley-14384634

It's not so much a case of 're-opening' stations, they will have to be built again from scratch!

And where exactly do they plan to open these new stations? The old stations were demolished, and new buildings and developments replaced them. For instance, the old Kings Heath station was where the Homebase and Topps Tiles are now.

An awful lot of money is going to have to be spent to build these 'new' stations, which means there are going to have to be lots of passengers to justify the cost.

These plans have been in the pipeline for several years, I certainly read about them a couple of years back now. They hinged on the building of new 'chords' at Bordesley Junction, so that trains would go into Moor Street, rather than to an already congested New Street station. Which would make sense, given Moor Street's proximity to the future HS2 terminal at Curzon Street. So it seems odd that the new proposal would see the Camp Hill services continue into New Street, with some changes to Hereford services to accomodate them.

[D10]

I have seen comment on the Stourbridge Line User Group Facebook page that there will be one train an hour from Worcester over the Camp Hill line. There will still be an existing hourly service from Worcester to New Street via University to continue those links. So good news for Worcester which will get an increased frequency on the New Street line.

One train an hour an hour for the new stations doesn't seem that much though, but of course the New Street capacity problem must put paid to a higher frequency until the chords to Moor Street get built. It will of course be far faster to get into the City Centre than by road, so speed will now doubt be the selling point over frequency.

[Justin Tyme]

In that case the money would be far better spent on BRT-style bus priority schemes on the 50 route.

I can believe that an hourly service is the best that New Street can manage, but that won't be of any real use.

[sryan188]

Government confirms it is 'looking into' plans to re-open stations along the Camp Hill Line:
https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/news/regional-affairs/government-plans-kings-heath-moseley-14384634

It's not so much a case of 're-opening' stations, they will have to be built again from scratch!

And where exactly do they plan to open these new stations? The old stations were demolished, and new buildings and developments replaced them. For instance, the old Kings Heath station was where the Homebase and Topps Tiles are now.

An awful lot of money is going to have to be spent to build these 'new' stations, which means there are going to have to be lots of passengers to justify the cost.

These plans have been in the pipeline for several years, I certainly read about them a couple of years back now. They hinged on the building of new 'chords' at Bordesley Junction, so that trains would go into Moor Street, rather than to an already congested New Street station. Which would make sense, given Moor Street's proximity to the future HS2 terminal at Curzon Street. So it seems odd that the new proposal would see the Camp Hill services continue into New Street, with some changes to Hereford services to accomodate them.

The old Hazelwell station building is still there it is a bathroom showroom
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4298541,-1.9085448,3a,75y,52.87h,92.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sce6ICIxemAQdBpROufmqHw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[Dom]

I worked very closely on the research regarding the possibility of this line opening. The demand really is there and a lot of people who are currently making journeys on the bus could go on to use the train. The 1 train an hour is a temporary measure and from what I believe will be looked into being increased within the first 12-18 months possibly to as high as every 20 minutes.

[Kevin]

1 tph on a suburban rail line in the second city of the country is just pathetic, I'm sorry

[Dom]

1 tph on a suburban rail line in the second city of the country is just pathetic, I'm sorry

Give it time. Passengers at Tipton and Dudley Port only have 2.

[Sh4318]

1 tph on a suburban rail line in the second city of the country is just pathetic, I'm sorry

I agree. 1tph vs 12bph.. it's not going to be used.

Give it time. Passengers at Tipton and Dudley Port only have 2.

Should be 2tph minimum in my honest opinion

[Tony]

1 tph on a suburban rail line in the second city of the country is just pathetic, I'm sorry

Cannock only gets 1tph off-peak

[2206]

Cannock only gets 1tph off-peak

Adderley Park gets 1tph.

[WMT3000]

Instead of thinking a few months into the future, West Midlands Railways should perhaps try looking a bit further ahead and build the chord from outside moor st to camp hill. 1 train per hour into New St will be of no use to anyone other than a few pensioners, shoppers & enthusiasts. With congestion at New St & every other company taking precidence, the one train per hour will never be on time. It will become a new version of the Harborne branch (for those who are unaware, one of the slowest and most unreliable lines in British history - passengers used to jump off the train to catch a quicker bus or tram service daily). Judging by the constant late running/cancellation of trains, a new raft of excuses such as "unusually large passenger flows", the new franchise is already shaping up to be the worst yet in my opinion. The total lack of foresight involved with re-opening the Camp Hill line for passengers just serves to illustrate this fact - if there's a cheap and easy option to only provide half or a third of a service - WMR will seize the opportunity gladly without considering passenger needs.

[Tony]

Instead of thinking a few months into the future, West Midlands Railways should perhaps try looking a bit further ahead and build the chord from outside moor st to camp hill. 1 train per hour into New St will be of no use to anyone other than a few pensioners, shoppers & enthusiasts. With congestion at New St & every other company taking precidence, the one train per hour will never be on time. It will become a new version of the Harborne branch (for those who are unaware, one of the slowest and most unreliable lines in British history - passengers used to jump off the train to catch a quicker bus or tram service daily). Judging by the constant late running/cancellation of trains, a new raft of excuses such as "unusually large passenger flows", the new franchise is already shaping up to be the worst yet in my opinion. The total lack of foresight involved with re-opening the Camp Hill line for passengers just serves to illustrate this fact - if there's a cheap and easy option to only provide half or a third of a service - WMR will seize the opportunity gladly without considering passenger needs.

I presume you haven't read any of the article

They are doing the curves into Moor Street

The New Street solution is the temporary one to speed up the start of services suggested by Andy Street

[DeanM66A]

I presume you haven't read any of the article

They are doing the curves into Moor Street

The New Street solution is the temporary one to speed up the start of services suggested by Andy Street

I've read the article in the Post that was linked at the start of the thread.  It states that the Secretary of State for Transport has agreed to "carefully study" the proposal.  Is the proposal available for the public to carefully study?

Whilst the careful studying is taking place, it would be better for those who want an improved transport system in south Birmingham to support this scheme.  The proposers readily acknowledge it's a short-term fix. 

[WMT3000]

I presume you haven't read any of the article

They are doing the curves into Moor Street

The New Street solution is the temporary one to speed up the start of services suggested by Andy Street

I've just read it again and unless i'm missing something it reads as though nothing's been decided. I've also read minutes of council meetings which suggest it might be a possibility but is unlikely. Incidentally, i'm writing this while sat on the bus because my train to work, run by WMR, is 22 mins late due to "awaiting train crew". Like i said before, they can't even run the existing franchise. It will take more than ambiguous articles full of vagueries to fool me.

[Dom]

I've just read it again and unless i'm missing something it reads as though nothing's been decided. I've also read minutes of council meetings which suggest it might be a possibility but is unlikely. Incidentally, i'm writing this while sat on the bus because my train to work, run by WMR, is 22 mins late due to "awaiting train crew". Like i said before, they can't even run the existing franchise. It will take more than ambiguous articles full of vagueries to fool me.

Of course because WMR are the only company in the entire country that cancel trains due to a lack of train crew! What a stupid comment to make.