Kenilworth station

Kenilworth station was due to open on March 5 (as this issue of RAIL went to press), but with no Sunday service.

West Midlands Trains said on social media that it was “waiting for a confirmed date”, but that March 5 was a best estimate for the opening of the £13.6 million station, which has been delayed at least three times - previously slated opening dates were in December 2016, August 2017 and then most recently in December 2017 ( RAIL 842).

West Midlands Trains (WMT) will run an hourly service in each direction between Coventry and Leamington on weekdays and Saturdays, although the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has confirmed the withdrawal of WMT’s application to run Sunday services owing to timetable clashes with other services.

In a letter available on the ORR website, ORR senior executive for access and licensing Jonathan Rodgers wrote to both WMT and Network Rail on February 6 to confirm that track access had been granted for the new six-day service. It was also revealed that several train and freight operating companies had expressed concerns over the ‘performance impact’ of the new services, since the original application was made on October 13 2017.

CrossCountry had asked what mitigation and contingency plans would be put in place to minimise the performance impact on other services scheduled to use the single-line section of track that runs between Coventry and Leamington, while Chiltern Railways had raised concerns over the ability of proposed rolling stock (a single-car Class 153) to cope with potential overcrowding.

WMT responded to concerns by stating its intention to run a Class 172 unit instead, which would offer superior braking and acceleration to the ‘153’.

However, in November, WMT informed ORR that it had not been possible to secure a Class 172, which would have alleviated some performance concerns, particularly on Sundays. It therefore withdrew its application for a seven-day service.

In the February 6 letter, ORR said: “We consider that this was a sensible and pragmatic decision [by WMT] and will contribute to the stability of the new service. We expect that the Class 172 DMU will be introduced at the earliest opportunity and will have a positive impact on performance.

“We are mindful of the performance issues raised by the operators during and after the industry consultation. We do not consider that the performance impact on any operators will be significant to the extent that should preclude our approval.”

In response to the latest letter from the ORR, Kenilworth resident and former Warwickshire County Councillor Fraser Pithie told RAIL: “The ORR’s latest notice discloses months of indecision and obfuscation.

“The circumstances relating to Kenilworth station should be a warning to any third party developer like WCC not to commit to schemes unless they have copper-bottomed guarantees regarding capacity and rolling stock.”