Worcestershire Parkway Station project - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

I can confirm that the updated announcements with the female voice are now in use on IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)).

The station announcements at Pershore however stiil say WOP^▸ (Worcestershire Parkway station).

I thought that word was deemed derogatory after Bernard Manning ceased to be on TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context)?

[IndustryInsider]

I am hopeful that these usage figures will mean CrossCountry will stop trains on their Manchester<>Bristol axis soon (May 2024?), which I know a number of influential people are pushing for.  It might even help with regaining momentum regarding the aspiration of a 2tph GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service between Worcester and Paddington.  Think what the usage would be with eight trains an hour calling!

A bit of an implosion in the Cardiff<>Nottingham service today, meant several of the longer distance Voyager operated service called additionally at Worcestershire Parkway. 

Performance was as follows:
1M21 left Cheltenham 4 late and arrived New Street 6 late
1S37 left Cheltenham 2 late and arrived New Street 2 late
1V50 left New Street on time and arrived Cheltenham 13 late
1M49 left Cheltenham 6 late and arrived New Street 4 late
1V60 left New Street on time and arrived Cheltenham 3 late

So, aside from 1V50 very little time was lost due to the additional call, with one train losing no time and one actually gaining two minutes.  Bodes well for introducing a call on these train permanantly without having to do too much tinkering with the schedules.

[Witham Bobby]

I am hopeful that these usage figures will mean CrossCountry will stop trains on their Manchester<>Bristol axis soon (May 2024?), which I know a number of influential people are pushing for.  It might even help with regaining momentum regarding the aspiration of a 2tph GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service between Worcester and Paddington.  Think what the usage would be with eight trains an hour calling!

A bit of an implosion in the Cardiff<>Nottingham service today, meant several of the longer distance Voyager operated service called additionally at Worcestershire Parkway. 

Performance was as follows:
1M21 left Cheltenham 4 late and arrived New Street 6 late
1S37 left Cheltenham 2 late and arrived New Street 2 late
1V50 left New Street on time and arrived Cheltenham 13 late
1M49 left Cheltenham 6 late and arrived New Street 4 late
1V60 left New Street on time and arrived Cheltenham 3 late

So, aside from 1V50 very little time was lost due to the additional call, with one train losing no time and one actually gaining two minutes.  Bodes well for introducing a call on these train permanantly without having to do too much tinkering with the schedules.

Travelling back to Worcestershire Parkway from Manchester, I was at New Street in time for the 1730 XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) servie southwards from there, which got cancelled at Derby (breakdown, lack of crew, ambulance service attendance - take your pick of the excuses)

After a bit of a delay, the train, 1V13 was einstatedfor the Birmingham to Newport section of the diagram.  The empty stock for this appears to have originate in the Leicester area, and rolled into New Street just after 1900.  The "next" hourly train from New Street had also been cancelled.  The 1730 then got chopped short, and would run as far as Gloucester only

The worst thing about the wait was not knowing if it was risky or not to go and get a warming cuppa.  I had the benefit of looking at RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) and Tracksy, and knowing what to look for.  But most of the waiting passengers had no way of knowing what was happening

[Witham Bobby]

I  parked at Worcestershire Parkway for my first ever use of the station at around 1700 on Tuesday.  Returned around 1940 on Wednesday and enquired at the booking office about paying for parking, as I could see no machines.  Got told to scan one of the QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code (2D bar code)) codes off a sign in the car park and pay online.  Which I did.

However, I've noted that the parking receipt that was emailed to me acknowledges receipt of £8.80 for 1 day 3 hours of parking, including 20p for the privilege of paying, but it states that the payment covers the period forward from when I paid, not backwards.  I admit that it was tricky to see what I was doing in the dark as I used the website to pay, but I don't recall ant facility to pay retrospectively. 

Am I going to get taken to the cleaners for "non-payment" for the time my car was actually present in the car park, even though GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has a full payment of the correct amount from me?

An awful system.  How does anyone without a smart phone do this?

[IndustryInsider]

The recently released station usage figures, which were excellent as quoted elsewhere, will hopefully give a boost to those campaigning for more XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains to call.

[IndustryInsider]

The recently released station usage figures, which were excellent as quoted elsewhere, will hopefully give a boost to those campaigning for more XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains to call.

With the usual huge realtimetrains-too far-in-advance caveat it looks promising that from May there will be a significant boost to the number of XC services calling.

There's currently 31 a day almost all on the Cardiff<>Nottingham axis.  That looks set to almost double to 56 trains a day with the Cardiff<>Nottingham's supplemented by a mostly hourly call on the longer distance XC services.

It's a bit 'lop sided' with the Manchester>Bristol axis providing the southbound calls and the Plymouth>Scotland service providing the northbound calls, but that means an hourly service to Bristiol that takes less than an hour, also calling at Cheltenham and Bristol Parkway.  And an extra train to Birmingham New Street each hour and direct services either to or from a whole host of other large places.

What great news if it's true.

I will nit pick slightly in that the morning commuter service remains little changed, just one extra train from Plymouth to Edinburgh that gets into New Street just before 9am, and nothing heading south for Cheltenham/Gloucester other than the current 07:58 as the first Bristol southbound service doesn't get there until gone 10am.  The spacing isn't perfect either with two trains in the same direction calling 12-14 minutes apart, but that is understandable as it would take a re-write of the timetable to make that any better.

Overall a great improvement.

XC also seem to be making improvements to the Birmingham<>Stansted corridor to resume to hourly, and modest improvements to the Reading<>Newcastle axis.

[Richard Fairhurst]

And if 10,000 houses are built around Parkway as projected, even more services might be needed!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-67214450

[TonyN]

The station announcements at Pershore however stiil say WOP^▸ (Worcestershire Parkway station).

There has been a development on the Station announcements at Pershore.

Instead of WOP it now says Newcourt 

[TonyN]

The station announcements at Pershore however stiil say WOP^▸ (Worcestershire Parkway station).

There has been a development on the Station announcements at Pershore.

Instead of WOP it now says Newcourt 

And that's been changed back to saying WOP again.

[johnneyw]

There has been a development on the Station announcements at Pershore.

Instead of WOP^▸ (Worcestershire Parkway station) it now says Newcourt 

Curious, I seem to recall a similar thing happening when I was there back in the summer.

[IndustryInsider]

The recently released station usage figures, which were excellent as quoted elsewhere, will hopefully give a boost to those campaigning for more XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains to call.

There's currently 31 a day almost all on the Cardiff<>Nottingham axis.  That looks set to almost double to 56 trains a day with the Cardiff<>Nottingham's supplemented by a mostly hourly call on the longer distance XC services.

I will nit pick slightly in that the morning commuter service remains little changed, just one extra train from Plymouth to Edinburgh that gets into New Street just before 9am, and nothing heading south for Cheltenham/Gloucester other than the current 07:58 as the first Bristol southbound service doesn't get there until gone 10am.

Further targeted improvements see a small number of additional calls from this weeks timetable change, but really improving the early morning service south as there is now a 07:12 to Paignton and 08:12 to Bristol Temple Meads offering two more commuting services to Cheltenham and Bristol - the first one to Bristol was at 09:16 until this week.

There's also an additional last service south.  Last week it was 20:58 to Cardiff (20:30 off Birmingham New Street), but now there's an additional 21:59 to Gloucester calling at Ashcurch and Cheltenham (21:30 off of Birmingham New Street, which originates at Leicester).

Good stuff!

[TonyN]

And now the not so good news.

Parking charges going up Again.

Anger over Worcestershire Parkway parking charge increase

https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/25698794.anger-worcestershire-parkway-parking-charge-increase/

[grahame]

And now the not so good news.

Parking charges going up Again.

The 41-year-old commuter said: "Until Jan 31 2025 it cost £4.80 per day. In Feb 2025 it increased to £5.30, then in September 2025 to £5.80. In January 2026 it will rise to £6.50.

[snip]

A GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) representative wrote back in September this year: "Thank you for getting in touch with your concerns about the parking charges at Worcestershire Parkway station.

"We appreciate that the recent increases in parking fees may feel significant, especially when compared with wider inflation rates and prices at other locations. Pricing is reviewed periodically and is based on a number of factors including operation costs, local demand, and ensuring facilities can continue to be maintained and improved.

"At present, there are no confirmed plans for further increases beyond the changes introduced in September. Your feedback has been noted and will be shared with the relevant team.

Reading those words carefully, with my highlights. 

[Witham Bobby]

And now the not so good news.

Parking charges going up Again.

Anger over Worcestershire Parkway parking charge increase

https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/25698794.anger-worcestershire-parkway-parking-charge-increase/

The Evesham Journal local rags are always "Angry" about something.

But in this case it would seem to be well justified.  Soaking the captive audience, as per

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, never nice to see car park charges rising.  Though I would argue it still doesn't offer bad value.

I remember during Covid, just after the station opened, looking down at the dozen or so cars in the car park and wondering if it would ever get half full.  Now it is often full which is never ideal for a remote station with no other parking options, so it must be generating a decent wedge of cash. 

A second tier of parking spaces is needed...and soon!