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I won't stop the faster trains campaign, says county MP

An MP in Worcestershire has repeated her calls for faster, more reliable trains to London - saying she will carry on pressing for improvements.

Harriett Baldwin says the recent three-and-a-half-year extension to the First Great Western franchise is a good sign, but wants more assurances over services.

The train firm runs the Cotswold Line, which goes between this county and the capital, and has secured the extension to the current deal which ends in March 2019.

Mrs Baldwin said: "The new deal offered to First Great Western will give them a level of stability and allow the company to invest in the future.

"I hope that as this news is absorbed, the company will now be able to commit to improved services to the capital with faster, more reliable and more frequent trains.

"I have made the case to protect services which stop at Pershore but hope that we will also see some quicker trains to London as part of this deal.

"With the new Worcester Parkway plans evolving I hope that we get further progress for county commuters very soon.

"I will continue to press Network Rail to complete the long-overdue complete dualling of the line as well."

It comes as Worcestershire County Council presses on with plans for the ^17 million parkway plans, which is expected to open in 2017 on land in Norton.

A series of public exhibitions are currently being staged around the county ahead of a planning application being submitted.

It will lead to hourly services towards London, and shave off around 25 minutes from journey times, according to the council.

Perhaps, a few extra passengers may be attracted by shorter journey times, but would this compensate for the loss of income elsewhere?

Cotswold Line timetable gets shake-up with key peak train speeded up

Extra trains between Oxfordshire and Worcestershire be introduced on the Cotswold Line next May and a key morning peak train will be retimed to give an earlier arrival in London.

Train operator First Great Western announced the changes after being given the go-ahead by the Department for Transport.

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group (CLPG), which represents passengers on the route between Oxford, Worcester and Hereford, welcomed the changes but said it still wanted to see remaining two-hour gaps in off-peak services eliminated.

FGW said the changes were the first step towards further improvements when new electro-diesel express trains start operating on the line in 2017, after electrification of the Oxford to London line.

The key changes are:
- The 5.28am train from Hereford to London will be speeded up, so it leaves Charlbury at 7.12am and Hanborough at 7.21am (replacing the current 7.12am service starting from Charlbury), reaching Oxford at 7.30am and London Paddington at 8.30am. While this train loses its call at Kingham, it is replaced by a new service starting from Moreton-in-Marsh at 7.11am, calling at Kingham at 7.20am, Charlbury at 7.31am and Hanborough at 7.39am, arriving in Oxford at 7.49am and London at 8.52am
- The 11.53am train from Moreton-in-Marsh will start from Worcester Shrub Hill at 11.23am
- The 3.53pm from Moreton-in-Marsh will start from Worcester Shrub Hill at 3.20pm
- The 1.14pm service from Hereford to London will be replaced by a train departing at 12.11pm
- The 1.22pm train from London to Moreton-in-Marsh will be extended to Worcester, reaching Shrub Hill at 3.22pm and Foregate Street at 3.39pm.

FGW^s managing director, Mark Hopwood, said: ^These changes offer real improvements for the vast majority of our customers on the line.^

CLPG chairman John Ellis said: ^We welcome the improvements. The 8.30am arrival in Paddington is something that we have long campaigned for and is particularly welcome for people wanting to be in London for 9am appointments. However, the service still has gaps of up to two hours at times, and we will continue to press for a regular hourly off-peak service.^

Two stops to be cut from Pershore Train Station timetable

The number of trains stopping at Pershore station is set to reduce by two when changes by First Great Western come into force next spring.

The move by the train operator comes after a series of consultations and is a reduction from the four stops originally at risk of getting the chop from the timetable.

Amendments to the plans, which hope to see faster journey times between Worcester and London, took a turn for the better for Pershore after Cotswold Line Promotion Group hit out at the plans and were backed by Pershore MP Harriett Baldwin.

The MP said she blocked proposals to remove four stops from Pershore and was backed by Rail Minister Claire Perry. She has also written to Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne ahead of the publication of the spring timetable.

"The initial proposals suggested that some totally unacceptable changes were being proposed for Pershore and I was strongly resistant to this plan," said Mrs Baldwin. "I am surprised that an old version of the plans is now being circulated and I wanted to reassure people that I am in discussion with the department to clarify this issue. We all want faster, more reliable and more frequent trains, but this must not be at the expense of services in Pershore. I have been in touch with the minister and I hope to clarify this position and make sure that the correct information is published once it is agreed by all parties."

As part of the changes there will be peak journey time improvement by 21 minutes from Hereford and Worcester, two additional direct services from Worcester to Oxford and Paddington, a new morning HST from Moreton at 7.11am and a service extension through to Worcester in the afternoon.

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "This is an evolutionary step towards the longer term timetable solutions that we would like to see established when electrification is complete and new Intercity Express Trains are introduced. As part of the consultation process First Great Western changed its initial proposals for Pershore services, and the current proposals retain a call there in the 5.49pm Paddington to Worcester service, and add a stop into our new 12.11pm Hereford to London Paddington train. There will still be a reduction of two services a day during the week, which allows us to run some of the new, more frequent services. What we seek to do is to deliver the greatest overall benefit for the communities we serve. The proposed changes for May 2015 have been agreed by the Department for Transport and are now before Network Rail for their approval."

Councillors "deeply concerned" about cutting public transport to Pershore

(http://www.eveshamjournal.co.uk/resources/images/3676388.jpg?display=1&htype=0&type=mc2)
Pershore railway station and car park is set to be revamped. Nick Toogood.

A Pershore councillor has spoken out and said he is "deeply concerned" about the cutting of public transport to the town.

At a meeting of the town council on Thursday Cllr Julian Palfrey said reductions to the number of stops at Pershore Train Station were leading to concerns about the level of service being delivered to the town.

The issue came to the fore again at the meeting as the council discussed an email and letter they had received from First Great Western.

Cllr Palfrey said: "I am deeply concerned and very frustrated at these letters. In now way does it give me any comfort that First Great Western are committed to maintaining the service to Pershore. They are really using this as an excuse. I think people are pursuing this faster journey time."

The concerns come after it was announced last year that the number of stops at the station was to be reduced by two in order to reduce the travel time between Worcester and London Paddington.

"There's no need to withdraw stops at Pershore," said Cllr Palfrey. "I think Pershore needs a better service. Pershore shouldn't be sacrificed at the expense of faster times when that could be achieved without lesser stops by re-timing the stops."

It's not the first time the council have discussed concerns about public transport links, with many concerned the situation will only get worse as hundreds of new homes are to be built in Pershore.

Cllr Palfrey added: "There's going to be this extra housing and we haven't got the transport links in place to cope with that extra demand."

The worries were exacerbated when one of the trains used by school children was cancelled and an earlier train could not be stopped at the station to avoid them becoming stranded due to drivers hours.

The old concern surrounding the limited car parking spaces was also raised as the Mayor of Pershore Cllr Tony Rowley, who said there seemed to be no mention of the extension talked about in the town for more than a decade.

He said: "I, like you, share the view they seem hell bent on this two hours and faster times. If you want to save those minutes go earlier. It seems ridiculous. The second thing is this situation over the car parking, there's nothing in this email that gives me comfort that anything's going to be done about Pershore car parking."

The council decided to write to express their concerns to First Great Western.

A First Great Western spokesman said the business was working with its partners to see the car park expanded.

They added: "A spokesman for First Great Western said: ^These changes offer real improvements for the vast majority of our customers travelling on this line. Such timetable alterations are always about us striking a balance between providing faster services and providing stopping services, and it is not always easy.

^Thanks to our consultation process, we have been able to strike that balance to deliver more frequent, faster services for customers with minimum compromise and, importantly pave the way for further improvements once the electrification of the Mainline has been completed.^