Stratford Parkway - good news for commuters!

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Good news for commuters in the Vale of Evesham. A brand new multi-million pound parkway station is set to open North of Stratford just off the A46(T) road, offering regular fast direct links to Birmingham on London Midland and London on Chiltern Railways.

Day trippers, theatre goers and shoppers will be also able to avoid the heavily congested roads to get into Stratford town centre.

It is expected that frustrated commuters, fed up of the woeful Worcestershire services, will abandon their lines in their droves.
The controversial station will open several months early.

http://www.stratford-herald.com/local-news/5800-new-stratford-parkway-station-will-open-seven-months-early.html

Is this another nail in the coffin for the Cotswold line?

[ellendune]

Its half an hour's drive from any of the Cotswold line stations and is on the north side of Straftford, why should it be a threat.  The trains would have to be alot faster to make that up.

Do any of your clouds have a silvery lining?

[Btline]

But many people drive further along the A46 to Warwick Parkway already so this station is CLOSER.

If Chiltern speed up and make the Stratford trains more frequent, they could be onto a winner, and ease the car parking pressure at Warwick.

[stebbo]

Warwick Parkway is easily accessible from Stratford and, obviously, is quicker if you're going to London as it benefits from the fast services to Marylebone (and the time taken for the Stratford train to go via Hatton to Warwick Parkway makes it less attractive). Might be a useful addition for Birmingham commuters - could this spell the end of the existing Stratford station.

If you live round Worcester/Evesham/Moreton then the Cotswold line is better.

[paul7575]

The rationale for Stratford Parkway appears to be mainly about the Stratford to Birmingham market, it is explained this way in the local RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy):

Stratford Parkway: a third party scheme is in development to provide a new parkway station
in Bishopton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, with an aspiration to increase train services between
Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham. The plan includes the provision of park and ride facilities which
would save people from driving into Stratford-upon-Avon town centre to get the train at the existing
station. Local developments at the existing station location will limit the potential to further expand
the current car park and therefore will constrain the ability of passengers to access the station. Stratford
Parkway would mitigate against the increased pressure on the existing Stratford station car park
and enable a potential increase in train service frequency to cater for demand generated by the
significant new housing developments planned to the north-west of the town.

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browseDirectory.aspx?dir=%5CRUS%20Documents%5CRoute%20Utilisation%20Strategies%5CWest%20Midlands%20and%20Chilterns

[eightf48544]

I'm probably imaging it but wasn't there something in the Western ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) about more Oxford Stratfords?

[paul7575]

I'm probably imaging it but wasn't there something in the Western ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) about more Oxford Stratfords?

It isn't exactly specific, it just seems to say the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) wouldn't object in principle:

The additional routes over which the Franchisee may also operate if they so wish are:
Southampton Central to Poole from May 2017 onwards only; and
Banbury to Stratford upon Avon.
Bidders are free to operate trains over these routes, subject to fulfilling the other requirements of the Franchise Agreement. Such services will not form part of the TSR^▸ (Temporary Speed Restriction). By accepting Bids which include plans for such services, the Department does not guarantee it will support future applications for track access on these routes.

My bold emphasis...

Paul

[autotank]

Any idea when the London Midland service will go half hourly to Stratford? Are there enough 172's to allow this? Hopefully the additional service won't call at all the shacks and allow a slightly faster journey time to Brum.

[IndustryInsider]

The station opened at the weekend.  There's a short article with a nice aerial view here:

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/stratford-upon-avon-parkway-station-opens.html

This sort of station is exactly what should be happening in more locations around the country and I'll be interested to see how the passenger number stack up - though I'm not sure how accurate they'll be given how close it is to the main Stratford station - will season tickets cost the same to places like Birmingham?

[John R]

- will season tickets cost the same to places like Birmingham?

Difficult to tell. Fares don't appear to have been loaded into National Rail, neither normal tickets nor seasons.

[paul7575]

Some more images here:

http://www.petertandy.co.uk/Recentpics.html

First two pictures on the page, then some others further down from earlier testing, then eventually some showing the even earlier construction...

Paul

[paul7575]

- will season tickets cost the same to places like Birmingham?

Difficult to tell. Fares don't appear to have been loaded into National Rail, neither normal tickets nor seasons.

SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s site has them loaded.  If I'm working their season ticket renewal thing right the monthly season is the same price as Stratford.  (I don't think SWT's season thing does weeklies though.)

Paul

[martvw]

Good to see the Stratford parkway station up and running. It seems to have been planned and built in no time at all. Why oh why do things in the Worcester area take so long i.e (Norton parkway station) I know there are two different train operators involved and two routes, but this has been talked about for thirty years or more and still nothing??

[IndustryInsider]

If I'm working their season ticket renewal thing right the monthly season is the same price as Stratford.

As I feared that might make passenger number misleading as any savvy commuter would get a main Stratford station season if it's the same price so they have the choice of using either station surely?