General information | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | Norton, Wychavon England | ||||
Coordinates | 52°09′20″N2°09′39″W / 52.1556°N 2.1609°W | ||||
Grid reference | SO890508 | ||||
Managed by | Great Western Railway | ||||
Platforms | 3 | ||||
Other information | |||||
Station code | WOP | ||||
Key dates | |||||
23 February 2020 | Opened | ||||
Passengers | |||||
2019/20 | 25,478 | ||||
Interchange | 63,915 | ||||
2020/21 | 32,350 | ||||
Interchange | 13,594 | ||||
2021/22 | 0.315 million | ||||
Interchange | 49,132 | ||||
2022/23 | 0.335 million | ||||
Interchange | 85,405 | ||||
2023/24 | 0.339 million | ||||
Interchange | 0.117 million | ||||
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Worcestershire Parkway is a split-level railway station where the Cotswold and Cross Country lines cross near Norton,Worcester,England. [2] It opened on 23 February 2020. [3] [4]
The Cross Country Route from Birmingham to Cardiff,Bristol and the South West passes close to the east of Worcester;however there were no nearby stations on this line,and the CrossCountry trains passed through Worcestershire without stopping. Worcestershire County Council therefore sought for many years to have a station on this line built near Worcester. [5]
The station is positioned a mile outside Worcester near the village of Norton,at the point where the Cross Country line passes under the Cotswold Line from Worcester to Oxford and London. It has two low-level platforms on the former,and one high-level platform on the latter (as it is single-track at this point),allowing interchange between the two lines. It is also close to Junction 7 on the M5,allowing Worcestershire residents to use the station as a 500-car park and ride to major cities,as well as into Worcester's Foregate Street and Shrub Hill stations,which is expected to relieve traffic and parking problems in Worcester itself. [5] [6]
Part of the purpose for the station's development is that Worcestershire Parkway will be the focus of strategic development up to 2041. The strategic growth area extends to approximately 1,130 hectares (2790 acres) and is bounded by the M5,A44,the North Cotswold and Birmingham to Bristol mainline railways and Stoulton to the east. It is expected that development around Worcestershire Parkway will deliver up to 10,000 new homes;50 hectares (123 acres) of employment sites;a new town centre;two secondary schools and seven primary schools and other supporting infrastructure. Health and other community facilities,including for sport and recreation will also be provided. The area will also benefit from the delivery of in excess of 40% green infrastructure which will include a community park and other smaller neighbourhood parks that will contain several LAPs,LEAPs and NEAPs. Several neighbourhoods will be planned throughout the site which will be linked to the social and community facilities by a network of safe and convenient pedestrian and cycle paths. The ‘Living Locally’concept will also be applied which means that everyone will be able to meet their daily needs within a walkable catchment of 20 minutes. [7]
An outline business case was developed by Laing Rail in March 2006,which concluded in favour of the development of Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange. [8] Worcestershire County Council set aside £3 million for park and ride facilities at the station in 2007. [9] [10] In October 2008 an e-petition was set up on the No 10 website calling for a Worcestershire Parkway. The Third Worcestershire Local Transport Plan (LTP3) cited Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange as the top transport priority for Worcestershire. [11] It was also listed in the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy as a Sub Regional Priority,and featured in Policy T6 - Strategic Park and Ride. A revised business case was submitted to the Department for Transport's (DfT) Rail Office,who gave their formal support to the project in 2012. [12]
In July 2014,the station was given funding as part of a government infrastructure fund distributed to local enterprise partnerships. [13]
Concerns were raised that the construction of Worcestershire Parkway would lead to reduced services at Worcester Foregate Street. However,this was rejected in 2014 by the deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council,Councillor Simon Geraghty,who said,"There has been no risk identified by Network Rail to existing railway stations." [14]
Artist impressions were released in February 2015 and the council said that a planning application had been submitted,with a decision due to have been made during the summer of 2015. The plan was for work to commence by the spring of 2016 and the station was on track to open in summer 2017. [15]
In February 2015,the council advertised for contractors for the construction of the railway station to include platforms,station building,passenger footbridge and lifts with a commencement date of late September 2015 with completion in May 2017. [16] On 25 August 2015 planning permission was granted,with work expected to start in 2016. The cost of the scheme was estimated at £22 million. [17] [18]
A potential legal battle between Worcester County Council and Norton Parkway Developments,who owned the land,started in 2016. Norton Parkway Developments refused to hand over the land to the council as they felt that they were in a position to complete the development themselves. [19]
In January 2017,WCC's plans for Worcestershire Parkway were approved by the DfT. [20] In February 2017,clearance work on the site began,and Worcestershire County Council appointed Buckingham Group Contracting as the developer as part of a design and build deal. [21] [22] Construction work finally began in early 2018,with a planned opening date in 2019. [23] In November 2019,it was announced that the station would open on 15 December 2019. [24] This was later pushed back to an unspecified time "early in the New Year." [25] In January 2020,it was announced that the station would be further delayed but opening was expected 'well before' the May timetable change. [26]
Phase 1 construction included the Cotswold Line,station building,interchange facilities,300-space car park,road access and infrastructure for phase 2. This second phase included two new platforms on the Birmingham - Bristol Main Line,a footbridge between the phase 1 and 2 platforms,and an additional 200 car parking spaces. [27]
Worcestershire Parkway opened to the public on Sunday 23 February 2020. The first train to serve the new station was the 08:29 GWR service to London Paddington. At 9:57 the first train arrived from London Paddington. The first Cross Country service to serve the station was the 10:40 to Cardiff Central from Birmingham New Street.[ citation needed ]
According to Worcestershire County Council,the usage of the station has exceeded expectations with 544,270 journeys made from the station between April 2022 and March 2023,numbers not expected for another 11 years. A plaque was unveiled by Beatrice Grant to mark the occasion. [28]
At a Cabinet meeting of the County Council on 23rd November 2023,the Council recognised the station is now being used by over 500 000 passengers a year with associated car park demand which is now around 90% full on mid-weekdays. Demand for the car park at Worcestershire Parkway is subject to ongoing monitoring with patterns of demand emerging. The car park is quieter at weekends than on weekdays,with Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday showing consistently highest demand. On these days the car park is virtually full. Should the car park become full this is likely to suppress demand and passenger growth,decrease the potential for additional services to call at the rail station or prevent service expansion. Indeed,industry standards suggest that suppression of demand may occur when a car park consistently reaches or exceeds 80% of capacity as motorists become concerned that they might not be able to find a space and seek alternative stations or modes of travel. Therefore the Council are exploring the option of car park expansion at Worcestershire Parkway which is considered integral to enabling the further development and expansion of the rail offer. The potential need for this was acknowledged in the original business plan and the grant of planning permission for the station. [29]
The station is served by both Worcester - Oxford/London and all Nottingham - Cardiff trains. The aim is for trains to travel to London in 2 hours or less. [27]
Phase 3 of the station's introduction will schedule additional CrossCountry trains. [27]
Services at Worcestershire Parkway are operated by CrossCountry and Great Western Railway. The current off-peak service at the station in trains per hour (tph) is:
Bristol Parkway, on the South Wales Main Line, serves the villages of Stoke Gifford and Harry Stoke in South Gloucestershire, England. Despite its name, it is located in Gloucestershire rather than Bristol itself. It is 112 miles (180 km) from London Paddington. The station was opened in 1972 by British Rail and rebuilt in 2001. It is the third-most heavily used station in the West of England combined authority area, after Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa. There are four platforms, and a well-equipped waiting area. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide most of the trains at the station, with CrossCountry providing the rest.
The Cotswold Line is an 86+1⁄2-mile (139.2 km) railway line between Oxford and Hereford in England.
University railway station serves the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women's Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the West Midlands of England. It is on the Cross-City Line, which runs from Redditch and Bromsgrove to Lichfield via Birmingham New Street. Most services are operated by West Midlands Railway who manage the station, but some are operated by CrossCountry.
Kidderminster railway station is the main station serving the large town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England and the wider Wyre Forest district. The station is operated by West Midlands Trains, and is on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. Regular commuter services run to Birmingham and Worcester. It shares its station approach with the adjacent Severn Valley Railway station.
Blakedown railway station serves the English village of Blakedown, Worcestershire. It was opened as Churchill in 1852, later becoming known for a time as Churchill & Blakedown after the two villages became a single parish.
Smethwick Galton Bridge is a split-level railway station in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It is at a point where two railways' lines cross on two levels. It has platforms on both lines, allowing interchange between them. The two low-level platforms serve the Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton Line, while the two high-level platforms serve the Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester Line. The high level line passes over the low level line at a right angle on a bridge. West Midlands Railway manages the station and operates most of its services, with others provided by Chiltern Railways and London Northwestern Railway.
The Northern line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Wirral line. The cross-city route runs from Hunts Cross in south Liverpool then branches in the north to terminate at Southport, Headbolt Lane and Ormskirk (Lancashire).
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station, one of two serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about 0.5 miles (800 m) west of the city centre, north-west of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road. It is the busiest station in Oxfordshire, and the fourth busiest in South East England.
Hereford railway station serves the city of Hereford, in Herefordshire, England. Managed by Transport for Wales, it lies on the Welsh Marches Line between Leominster and Abergavenny, is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line and also has an hourly West Midlands Trains service from Birmingham New Street. The station has four platforms for passenger trains and two additional relief lines for goods services.
Evesham railway station is in the market town of Evesham in Worcestershire, England. It is between Honeybourne and Pershore stations on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Hereford via Worcester and Great Malvern. It is operated by Great Western Railway. Trains to London Paddington take about 1 hour 45 minutes.
Hanborough railway station is a railway station in the village of Long Hanborough in Oxfordshire, England, serving the village and surrounding district. As a result of the Cotswold Line being singled the former up platform is the only one now in use for both up and down trains. It is served by Great Western Railway trains between London Paddington and Worcester Shrub Hill. It is also the nearest station to the towns of Woodstock and Witney.
Moreton-in-Marsh railway station serves the town of Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, England, and is on the Cotswold Line between Kingham and Honeybourne. The station and all passenger trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.
Stratford-upon-Avon railway station is the southern terminus of the North Warwickshire Line and Leamington–Stratford line, serving the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The station is served by West Midlands Trains (WMT) and Chiltern Railways.
Worcester Foregate Street, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860, is one of two railway stations that serve the city of Worcester, England; the other is Worcester Shrub Hill, which is located to the east. A third station, Worcestershire Parkway, is sited just outside of the city to the south-east. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who also operate services along with Great Western Railway.
Pershore railway station serves both the town of Pershore and village of Pinvin in Worcestershire, England. The station is on a single-track section of the Cotswold Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Great Western Railway.
Malvern Link railway station serves Malvern Link in Worcestershire, England. It is one of two stations serving the town of Malvern, the other being Great Malvern station.
Gloucestershire Parkway railway station is or was a proposed development in transport infrastructure for a semi-greenfield site surrounded by warehouse and light industry units 1.4 miles (2.3 km) east of Gloucester city centre which is on a major east–west spur line off of the greater north-south Birmingham-to-Bristol line on which this station would be built. The proposed site is specifically by an intra-city (urban) part of the inceptive A40 road in an area known as Elmbridge Court, Gloucester, England.
Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway is a railway station located on the northern outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It is on the North Warwickshire Line, adjacent to the A46.
Cambridge North railway station is a railway station located in Milton, Cambridgeshire, immediately adjacent to the Cambridge suburb of Chesterton, close to Cambridge Science Park. The station is on the Fen Line, which runs from Cambridge to King's Lynn. It connects to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, and provides an interchange with Park & Ride and local bus services.
Thanet Parkway railway station is a railway station in Cliffsend, Kent, that serves Discovery Park Enterprise Zone and new housing developments. It opened on 31 July 2023.
Media related to Worcestershire Parkway railway station at Wikimedia Commons