It's a pity Chiltern aren't reinstating the through roads at Beaconsfield which would allow more trains to stop there. I gather cost reasons prevented this.

He usually does! The other error was referring to Water Orton rather than Water Eaton. Despite these minor glitches, I look forward to reading RC's articles more than any other journalist.

Mr Ford assures me there'll be more on Evergreen 3 in next month's Modern Railways, including a challenge to readers from Mr Shooter himself!

Yes, rather disappointing isn't it! 

I posted this on Rail UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Forums and peak hour services from 2012 to Birmingham Snow Hill is the plan, according to the resident expert there!

Roger Ford reports in February's Modern Railways that Chiltern are introducing refurbished Mk3 coaches (hauled by Class 67 locomotives with DVTs^‡(resolve)) for their new Oxford service with power doors and retention toilets - construction of the prototype carriage is about to start.

I'm a little surprised Chiltern is using these on the Oxford services rather than the longer Birmingham route though.

Yes, these will be additional coaches.

This month's Modern Railways notes that Delta Rail has produced a plan for Chiltern to extensively refurbish Mk3s, possibly including power operated doors, retention toilets (I should hope so!) accessible for wheelchairs, new seating and interiors, CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision), power operated doors between vehicles and computer sockets.

They'll be using the refurbished Mk3 coaches referred to on the Modern Railways website (hauled by 67s and DVTs^‡(resolve)?) so there shouldn't be a problen under the new schedules.

The London - Birmingham line will be upgraded between February this year and February 2011 which suggests a  May 2011 start.

http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/chilternmainline/chilternmailinefaqs/   

Moor Street station expansion and faster trains to London announced
Jan 14 2010 by Christina Savvas, Birmingham Post


A dramatic expansion of Moor Street station will give Birmingham a second major rail terminal with high-quality and faster trains to London, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has announced.

The ^250 million investment will create the first new rail link from the capital to any major British city for over 100 years.

Journey times to London on the Chiltern line will be cut by a fifth to one hour 40 minutes, giving passengers a real choice between services from Moor Street and Virgin Trains services from New Street, which have been criticised for being too expensive.

The ambitious project to entice motorists onto trains was unveiled by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter.

Lord Adonis said the ^250 million upgrade would ^transform^ links between Birmingham and London.

He announced the improvements during a visit to Birmingham to meet business leaders and city council leader Mike Whitby.

Lord Adonis said: ^I am announcing the extension of the Chiltern franchise in return for ^250 million of investment, which Chiltern will put in to transform the line.

^It will ensure journey times to London are cut to one hour 40 minutes.

^This is very good news for Birmingham passengers and businesses, giving them a greatly enhanced service through the Chilterns and on to London and Marylebone. And it comes on top of the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line.

^These two projects taken together have transformed the quality of transport links between London and Birmingham.

^Part of the package is a big expansion of Birmingham Moor Street, which will now be the most significant second hub for trains from Birmingham to London.^

The upgrade, which is scheduled for completion in December, will be supported by a ^13.5 million project to open extra platforms, doubling capacity at Moor Street, where new ticketing technology will also be introduced.

There will be new trains with better acceleration, and new carriages.

Chiltern Railways, which holds the franchise to run services from Moor Street to Marylebone station in London, agreed to pay for the improvements after striking a deal with the Department for Transport.

Its franchise has been extended for seven and a half years, which means it will now run trains until at least 2021 if it provides a good service.

Although Chiltern already runs trains to London, the long journey time has meant they can be seen as a second-class option compared to Virgin^s services from New Street to London Euston, which use modern Pendolino trains on the West Coast Main Line.

Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter, said: ^Evergreen 3 is the biggest passenger rail project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support. Working closely with Network Rail, we are going to create a new main line railway for the people of Oxfordshire and the Midlands.

^This deal demonstrates that real improvements to rail services can be paid for without public subsidy by attracting people out of their cars and onto trains.^

Robin Gisby from Network Rail, said: ^This is a great scheme that will deliver huge benefits to hundreds of thousands of passengers.^

The new investment will give Birmingham two high quality services at major stations, added Lord Adonis.

The Moor Street expansion also raises questions about plans to bring high speed rail services into the city - providing a third option for passengers commuting to London.

New Street does not have the capacity to cope with new high speed services, even once a ^600 million refurbishment is completed. It means another city centre station is likely to be used, and Moor Street could be the obvious choice.

Lord Adonis would not comment on whether Moor Street would also be used for high speed rail services. The detailed proposals would be published in March, he said.

^The Government is looking at a number of options for how High Speed Rail can access Birmingham.^

Because they were just that - i.e. proposals. The scheme is now guaranteed to go ahead.

According to Railway Eye, ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) jumped the gun and issued the following press release a day early!


CHILTERN RAILWAY^S NEW LINE IS GREAT NEWS FOR PASSENGERS ^ ASSOCIATION OF TRAIN OPERATING COMPANIES

News provides perfect example of what train companies can achieve with smarter franchising

Responding to Chiltern Railways^ announcement of a ^250m new line, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said:

^Chiltern Railway^s project to significantly improve services between London and the Midlands is great news for passengers, and a good example of what a private train operating company can achieve under the right conditions.

^Franchises which run for 15 years or more, as with the case of Chiltern Railways, provide incentives for train companies to invest in upgrading their services and to focus ever harder on meeting passengers^ needs.

^We want to move to more widespread use of longer franchises, together with other smart franchise reforms, to free train companies to provide passengers and taxpayers with a better deal.^

From the Financial Times:


'This Friday, Chiltern is expected to announce a new project, called ^Evergreen 3^, designed to cut journeys from London to Birmingham by up to 20 minutes'

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aed33bd8-ff8e-11de-921f-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Chiltern have published their full Transport and Works Application for the new Oxford service.


The documents can be found at:

http://www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk/index.php/document-downloads

It looks as if the project is back on course:

http://www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk/uploads/Evergreen%203%20Newsletter%20Jan10%20v8%20Low-res.pdf 

From another website:

'Chiltern and DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) failed to achieve financial sign-off before the 1st December deadline contained in their franchise agreement due to the number of other track access and development funding agreements with ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) and Network Rail that had to be in place first. They have continued negotiating and should get sign-off shortly with an announcement expected within the next two weeks. The Transport & Works Act Order applicatioin is being made to DfT today'