London Midland Trains

[T840MAK]

There was a plan for the remaining class 323's up north to move down to London Midland, is this still happening ?
The cross city line can then be 6 coaches on most journeys which is needed.

Yes it is happening, for Chase Line electrification. This will happen in 2018, when Northern's class 331s are delivered to enable these to remove the 323s from the Manchester local services that the 323s currently work.
Sit tight. It's not long now.

[D10]

Posts on Stourbridge Line User Group FB pages shows 1953 and 2052 to Worcester both cancelled, leaving a 2 1/2 hour gap for services past Stourbridge on the Snow Hill line, pretty appalling especially at this time of year with all the extra travellers.  >:(

[Roy]

Posts on Stourbridge Line User Group FB pages shows 1953 and 2052 to Worcester both cancelled, leaving a 2 1/2 hour gap for services past Stourbridge on the Snow Hill line, pretty appalling especially at this time of year with all the extra travellers.  >:(

The 2156 service from Snow Hill has just left 14 minutes late.  This means a gap of 2 hours 41 minutes between services south of Stourbridge Junction, with no buses south of Stourbridge either.  Given that the previous through service at 1929 was only a 2-car unit, this is not pretty appalling - it's an absolute disgrace. 

At least TfWM know about the problems as it was a senior TfWM manager who posted the information on the Stourbridge Line User Group facebook page.  Hopefully, London Midland senior management will be invited to Summer Lane on Monday. 

[x68]

On Fridays the 2300 service to Worcester is extended to Ashchurch Cheltenham and Gloucester. Why is this as these stations are not served by London Midland at any other time.

[the trainbasher]

It's a parly service is the simple answer similar to having to serve Polesworth.

[Tony]

On Saturday night too many people turned up to catch the 2318 to Hednesford they physically couldn't fit on the train, not often that happens.  LM did actually solve the problem,  so fair play for that, but bit did mean it did mean a 37 late departure while they waited for a another 170 to come in which they could couple up to make coaches.

[Bob]

A couple of Saturdays ago people got left behind as they sent a two car set. People were apparently kicking off. Ridiculous

[Tony]

A couple of Saturdays ago people got left behind as they sent a two car set. People were apparently kicking off. Ridiculous

Talking to the LM diagramming people they would love to diagram more than a 2-car, but Nationalised Network Rail won't let them. When the train gets to Hednesford it runs empty stock to Wolverhampton Station and stables overnight in the bay platform there. The crew is also Wolverhampton based. Network Rail say there isn't anywhere at Wolverhampton to stable a longer train. This Saturday when it was 4 it had to run up to Wolverhampton carriage sidings which actually exceeded the drivers hours.

[Roy]

On Fridays the 2300 service to Worcester is extended to Ashchurch Cheltenham and Gloucester. Why is this as these stations are not served by London Midland at any other time.

The Invitation to Tender for the new West Midlands Franchise gives bad news and potential good news on services between Worcester and Gloucester.

The bad news reads as follows "We will not be specifying the continuation of the current single weekly late evening Friday only West Midlands Franchise service between Worcester and Gloucester due to low usage. All other services on this line are currently provided by Great Western Railway (GWR)."

The potential good news reads "Bidders are also able to propose service improvements above those set out in the TSR, and we will give them credit for schemes that go above and beyond those specified if they are demonstrated to be deliverable and offer value for money.  We will be asking for a specific focus on proposals for delivery of the following schemes which are difficult to deliver due to the availability of trains, station capacity, engineering requirements and space on the lines for a regular service to operate - Improved connectivity between Gloucester and Worcester to enhance the frequency on the line when provided alongside the Great Western Railway service".  I know that the Stourbridge Line User Group would like to see that achieved by extending some Stourbridge line trains to Gloucester to give passengers in Stourbridge, Kidderminster and Droitwich a single connection to Bristol and the South West without having to travel via Birmingham.   

[Sh4318]

A couple of Saturdays ago people got left behind as they sent a two car set. People were apparently kicking off. Ridiculous

LM have pre-warned that trains will be extra busy in the run up to Christmas. A couple of Saturday ago, I couldn't board the 23:08 to Shrewsbury at New Street, the train got full very quickly

[Bob]

What use is pre warning if the trains they use are hopelessly inadequate

[mikestone]

On Fridays the 2300 service to Worcester is extended to Ashchurch Cheltenham and Gloucester. Why is this as these stations are not served by London Midland at any other time.

For one, or maybe two timetable periods, an LM  unit shuttled between Worcester and Cheltenham during the day - the 23.00 is not a "parliamentary" because GWR provide a two-hourly service between Great Malvern and  Bristol or beyond. Common sense would be extend the trains in the opposite hours which start at Gloucester.

[Stuharris 6360]

What use is pre warning if the trains they use are hopelessly inadequate

The problem is, is that London Midland do not have an infinite number of units, if they take a unit from one service to strengthen another, that may well lead to another service being overcrowded.

[Bob]

Ridiculous situation

[Stuharris 6360]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cEo7ZeAlLc&feature=youtu.be