West Midlands cuts

Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) has described proposed cuts to long-distance services at Birmingham International, Coventry, Sandwell and Dudley and Wolverhampton as “wholly unacceptable”.

The cuts were raised in the InterCity West Coast franchise consultation document in May this year. The document argued that passengers travelling short distances in the West Midlands were boarding long-distance trains, with the resulting overcrowding forcing those travelling further afield to stand.

TfWM says that cutting intercity services to the four stations would damage the West Midlands economy and “make it almost impossible to commute between some of the region’s key cities”.

Options put forward by the body in its response to the Department for Transport include: replacing or extending the existing five- and nine-coach trains with up to 12 vehicles; better management of onboard capacity to ensure that all seats are being used; rebalancing the mixture of First and Standard Class accommodation; and changing the fares structure to address differences between peak and off-peak fares.

The response also calls for the existing three trains per hour service between the West Midlands and London to be retained, with no changes to calling patterns. TfWM argues that direct services from Milton Keynes, Coventry and Birmingham International should also be retained.

West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Lead Roger Lawrence said: “While we recognise the pressing need to squeeze more capacity out of the existing line, it should not come at the expense of fewer inter-city services at key West Midlands stations. That would be wholly unacceptable.

“Nevertheless, we need to meet rising passenger numbers and support economic growth until the arrival of High Speed 2 can relieve the pressure, and that’s why we have suggested a number of alternative options. On the Birmingham to Coventry line, Virgin provides more than 40% of the train services and over half the peak-time commuter capacity, so any cut would hit commuters and the economy.

“As things stand the West Coast Main Line is effectively full with limited scope for further additional services until HS2 arrives in 2026, but we need to make the most of the existing line to generate extra capacity without reducing inter-city services at stations like Coventry and Wolverhampton.”

The Invitation To Tender for the next InterCity West Coast franchise will be issued in November this year, with the new franchise due to start in April 2018.