Rail vision will be major boost for Worcester
MORE trains are set to serve Worcester as part of the multibillion-pound rail project.
Extra services between Worcester and Birmingham would be provided as part of the Midlands Rail Hub with an ambition to eventually connect Worcestershire with the high-speed HS2 line.
Under the plans another train would stop at Worcester Foregate Street from Birmingham Moor Street every hour which would connect the city to HS2 via Birmingham’s new Curzon Street terminal.
An extra train would also run between Worcester Foregate Street and Hereford – doubling the number of services to every half an hour rather than once an hour.
Half-hourly services would also run in both directions between Birmingham and Cardiff through Worcestershire Parkway, near Worcester, where trains currently only run once every hour.
Midlands Connect said it would cut the journey time between Worcester and Birmingham by around five minutes.
The work could start in 2025 with an aim of finishing by 2030.
The new services would require some engineering works with parts of the single-track line between Worcester and Hereford doubled up so trains can move past each other safely and more often.
Two extra services would also be put on between Birmingham and Redditch and Bromsgrove so trains would be available every 10 minutes.
The multi-billion-pound Midlands Rail Hub aims to improve train connections between Birmingham, the rest of the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, the East Midlands, the South West and Wales through improvements to various routes, tracks, junctions, stations and platforms and signalling.