A new connection from the Chiltern Main Line to the planned interchange at Old Oak Common, to provide additional capacity and access to both Crossrail and HS2, is one of the recommendations put forward by Network Rail as it looks to tackle a predicted 49% increase in capacity in the West Midlands and Chilterns.
Other infrastructure plans NR suggests include the development of a ‘Midlands Rail Hub’ that could allow more trains to run every hour into central Birmingham.
This would feature: new infrastructure at Bordesley, allowing trains from the southwest, northeast and east Midlands to access Birmingham Moor Street; additional tracks at Water Orton, to provide capacity for additional passenger trains and more freight; upgrading Kings Norton station and introducing more platforms at Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street; upgrading the railway around Worcester; and introducing automatic train operation (ATO) to control trains to provide more capacity.
- For more on this, read RAIL 805, published on July 20.
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FrankH - 05/07/2016 13:58
Once trains have access to Moor Street/Snow Hill then what happens, reverse out via another new spur to either Washwood Heath or Kings Norton. Ok for Scotland/North East - South West/ South Coast trains. Takes pressure off New Street.
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Kevin Boak - 05/07/2016 16:20
The Old Oak Common idea has some sense to it, but I feel the problem of connectivity between the Chiltern main line and Crossrail is being looked at from the wrong end. Surely it would make more sense to extend CrossRail from Old Oak Common to West Ruislip (perhaps with an intermediate station at Greenford), so that the many Crossrail services planned to terminate at Paddington coming from the east, would have somewhere useful to go (as well as providing a higher density of trains to connect with HS2 at Old Oak). West Ruislip could become a useful interchange between Chiltern main line trains, Crossrail and the Central Line. Vast sums have been spent at Northolt Junction to enable nearly all Down trains from Marylebone to avoid using the old dive-under at the flying junction. Careful thought will have to given as to how this could all be untangled to restore a fast double-track route from Northolt to Old Oak Common. Running Crossrail services to independent platforms at West Ruislip (similar to Abbey Wood) might perhaps avoid too great an upheaval to the Chiltern track formation as it now exists?
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Kevin Boak - 05/07/2016 16:21
The Old Oak Common idea has some sense to it, but I feel the problem of connectivity between the Chiltern main line and Crossrail is being looked at from the wrong end. Surely it would make more sense to extend CrossRail from Old Oak Common to West Ruislip (perhaps with an intermediate station at Greenford), so that the many Crossrail services planned to terminate at Paddington coming from the east, would have somewhere useful to go (as well as providing a higher density of trains to connect with HS2 at Old Oak). West Ruislip could become a useful interchange between Chiltern main line trains, Crossrail and the Central Line. Vast sums have been spent at Northolt Junction to enable nearly all Down trains from Marylebone to avoid using the old dive-under at the flying junction. Careful thought will have to given as to how this could all be untangled to restore a fast double-track route from Northolt to Old Oak Common. Running Crossrail services to independent platforms at West Ruislip (similar to Abbey Wood) might perhaps avoid too great an upheaval to the Chiltern track formation as it now exists?
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FrankH - 08/07/2016 00:39
Makes me wonder why Chiltern passengers would want to connect into HS2. They could travel to Banbury or Leamington Spa and get a XC service to New Street and change there. Or go to Moor Strret and walk, 5 minutes if that.
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wchallenor - 07/08/2016 18:56
what are they going to do to get a staion at willenhall an darlaston
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