Charlbury and Hanborough Stations - service improvements and car parking

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) press release:

PRIME MINISTER CELEBRATES COTSWOLD LINE RENAISSANCE

First Great Western were today (Friday, October 14) delighted to host Prime Minister David Cameron at Charlbury Station to celebrate the announcement of additional services along the line.

The Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the service improvements to the North Cotswold route and unveiled a plaque marking the improvements we have made to services along the route.

David Cameron was joined at the event by Lord Faulkner of Worcester, First Group Chief Executive Tim O^Toole, Network Rail^s Route Managing Director Patrick Hallgate and other invited guests.

From mid-September 6 additional services calling at Charlbury have been running each weekday. From December a new Monday to Friday trial service, leaving Charlbury at 0715 will head for Paddington, arriving there at 0830.

With the support of Oxfordshire County Council and others, external funding has now been secured by First Great Western from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)-sponsored Station Commercial Project Fund for the creation of a much needed car park extension at Charlbury.

Eight weeks ago marked the formal completion of Network Rail's ^67million project to redouble much of this important railway route, strengthening links from Hereford, Great Malvern, Worcester and the Cotswolds to Oxford and London. This year has also seen the creation of the second line, a new platform, waiting room and footbridge at Charlbury.

First Great Western Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: ^This event confirms the importance of the rails services for Charlbury, and we were delighted to join the Prime Minister in celebrating the North Cotswold Line Improvements. This event really caps what has been a remarkable period of developments, including service improvements and the recently approved car park investment for the station.^

[macbrains]

Excellent - just what was needed, the local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)!

The car park extension is very badly needed.

rgds
Rob

[ChrisB]

6 additional services?

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Yes, when you count the trains that now stop but prior to track dualling wizzed through the station non-stop - even more at Hanborough for the same reason

[IanL]

But until a few years ago some of those very same trains used to stop! They were mostly trains going against the main flow in the morning.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From The Oxford Times:

Work to start on station car park expansion



Commuters using Charlbury station will no longer have to battle for parking spaces in the future.

First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) has announced it will build 83 new spaces ^ including eight for disabled drivers ^ at the Forest Road station.

The ^470,000 project will begin on May 8 and FGW hopes to have work complete by September.

Currently, the car park has 158 spaces and Charlbury councillors have been fighting to get the number increased for more than 20 years.

The line through Charlbury station was redoubled last year as part of a ^67m project to restore double track on sections of the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester.

Charlbury Town Council chairman Nick Potter said: ^It is desperately needed. The car park is full by about 9am every morning and we get people parking all over the town, which has been our main problem. It has displaced parking for people who want to work or shop in Charlbury.^

The council has been fighting for the project since British Rail took over the site, which was rented to the town for allotments, more than 20 years ago to extend the car park.

Cotswold Line Promotion Group chairman John Ellis said: ^Charlbury has always been a bottleneck for car parking. We think a number of people are actively deterred from using rail because they know there are no car parking spaces at Charlbury.^

FGW spokesman Dan Panes said: ^Charlbury is one of our fastest growing stations and we have been looking to add more parking facilities for some time.^

Last week FGW announced that it could also build a new 197-space car park at Long Hanborough station, at the former Hewden plant hire depot nearby.

The Charlbury project is subject to FGW receiving funding from Network Rail. A decision is set to be made on May 10.

[IndustryInsider]

Great news that it's being done so soon - I had feared it would have been completed much nearer the deadline of March 2014.  Hopefully Pershore won't be far behind, and the double-positives of extra spaces and more comfortable trains can be delivered at roughly the same time.  And great news regarding Hanborough, too.  Fingers crossed that it gets the go-ahead.  I'm assuming 'Charlbury' should read 'Hanborough' in the last sentence of that article?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Cough ... it's not for me to question a journalist on The Oxford Times ... 

[IndustryInsider]

Looks like the new car park at Hanborough is getting very close to getting the nod:

http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9705225.Soaring_demand_fuels_station_car_park_plan/

[IndustryInsider]

Hanborough has now got the go-ahead for 191 new spaces in the latest round of approved schemes from the Station Improvement Fund.  FANTASTIC news and coming alongside improvements already announced at Charlbury and Pershore this will really allow the winner of the Greater Western franchise to grow their business along the Cotswold Line with the prospect of faster services and new trains only a few years away.  Watch commuters flock to Hanborough now that there will be parking spaces available after 7am!

Other stations within FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land to benefit from the announcement are Cheltenham Spa (67 new spaces) and Farnborough Main - not a FGW station, but there is one their too (243 spaces).

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Press-Releases/PASSENGERS-SET-TO-BENEFIT-AS-TEN-MORE-STATIONS-SECURE-SHARE-OF-100M-IMPROVEMENT-FUND-1aa6/SearchCategoryID-2.aspx

[Btline]

this will really allow the winner of the Greater Western franchise to grow their business along the Cotswold Line with the prospect of faster services

So more trains stopping at Hanborough = faster services? If the new franchise holder wants to grow passenger numbers as a long distance service then they need to speed it up!

[IndustryInsider]

So more trains stopping at Hanborough = faster services?

Potentially, yes.  After all, with only three daily trains not stopping at Hanborough currently (of which only one could be described as a commuter service) they can't really add any more Cotswold Line stops than there already are, can they?!

The prospect of faster services from Worcester (unlocking the potential growth there even more) comes from four potential improvements:

1)  A recast of the timetable to ensure that much of the unnecessary pathing allowances are removed = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.
2)  The new IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) (or whatever it eventually turns into) with better acceleration and better station dwell times than HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.
3)  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are studying what can be done to increase the ruling linespeed for much of the route = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.

and now you can add...

4) With more parking at the eastern end of the line, and better infrastructure, there then becomes more of a possibility that an increased service frequency will be needed/financially viable.  It's possible that more trains will run at the eastern end of the line and that might, just might, mean that Hanborough stops can be cut from some of the longer distance trains, yet still having a better service than now. 

Faster services from Worcester are very much in the pipeline.  You might need to be patient, that's all.   

[IndustryInsider]

An article on the Hanborough car park expansion, including a plan of where the spaces will be and access points for pedestrians.  Looks like there'll be a extra cycle shelter and designated disabled spaces too.

http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9815009.Planning_consent_sought_for_Hanborough_station_car_park_extension/

Note to mods - any chance of altering the thread topic to mention Hanborough as well?

[JayMac]

Note to mods - any chance of altering the thread topic to mention Hanborough as well?

Done!

[Andy W]

and now you can add...

4) With more parking at the eastern end of the line, and better infrastructure, there then becomes more of a possibility that an increased service frequency will be needed/financially viable.  It's possible that more trains will run at the eastern end of the line and that might, just might, mean that Hanborough stops can be cut from some of the longer distance trains, yet still having a better service than now. 

Hi II,

This surely reinforces a discussion on another thread that they should have redoubled Honeybourne - beyond Pershore and Moreton - beyond Hanborough rather than Moreton - Honeyborne, ensuring both stations are on double track rather than stopping on single line. Particularly at the eastern end where there is very significant latent potential.