A better service for Ashchurch (for Tewkesbury)?

[ABB125]

Ashchurch station, for those who aren't aware, is just over 7 miles north of Cheltenham and about half a mile from M5 Junction 9. It currently has a train every two hours (GWR's (Malvern-)Worcester-Gloucester-Bristol(-South Coast) service) plus one or two peak time CrossCountry calls (on the Nottingham-Cardiff route).Annual footfall is just over 100,000 passengers.

As it's one of my local stations, I obviously have an interest in any development in the service at the station, or the station itself. The station has a user group, whose website can be found by clicking here, and one of their proposals is to extend the southbound freight loop just to the north of the station through the station with a new platform, and to make it bi-directional, to increase capacity and allow more trains to stop. There are documents here.

I believe Ashchurch (or Tewkesbury) has recently been (or is going to be) bestowed with 'Garden Town' status, with plans for over 10,000 new houses by 2041. Obviously this needs to be accompanied by an improved train service. In one planning document I've read recently it said that £2 million (yes, million!) was being spent on a study into increasing service frequency at the station, and also potentially £30 million on station infrastructure (3rd platform?).

Another consideration to take into account is the branch to MoD Ashchurch, a 60-hectare site which a few years ago was going to be converted to housing. That plan has since been postponed, I believe due to asbestos. I have seen suggestions to make use of the rail link into the site and develop it into a railfreight site (being on the A46 and next to the M5), but nothing recently.

In terms of services at the station, my personal preference would be for the existing GWR service to become hourly (which I believe would simply require the extension of the service currently curtailed at Gloucester in the hours which it doesn't run to Worcester; I'm told that the only major barrier to this happening is availability of rolling stock). Longer term I would also like too see a 'semi-fast' service from Birmingham, calling at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire Parkway, Ashchurch, Cheltenham and Gloucester. It could terminate here, or absorb the TfW service to Maesteg as far as Cardiff, or continue to Bristol, I don't mind. The main issue for this service would be capacity around Birmingham.

Apologies for the slightly disjointed sections of this post, but hopefully what I've written makes sense. If anyone is involved with the station and has information to share, please do. Any opinions and comments are welcome, especially from people within the industry.

 

[GlosRail]

I agree with you, this was once my local station, before I moved away.

It needs to have an hourly service. The best would be for more Cardiff to Nottingham services to stop as there is a very poor service to Birmingham outside the morning peak. I would also like to see an increase in local GWR services, like you say extend the Bristol to Gloucester trains to Worcester.

 

[satisnek]

In the early days of the franchise, London Midland operated a two-hourly 'fill-in' service between Worcester and Gloucester, so providing an hourly service between those points. It wasn't successful and was soon withdrawn.

 

[Sprinter107]

In the early days of the franchise, London Midland operated a two-hourly 'fill-in' service between Worcester and Gloucester, so providing an hourly service between those points. It wasn't successful and was soon withdrawn.

It was withdrawn because the unit that worked thst service was needed elsewhere. It was building up a good amount of passengers, as it was more reliable thst the Great Western service. The early evening Gloucester to Worcester was really quite busy.

 

[ABB125]

It's good to see that other people agree with me!
Are there any other stations in the country with over 100,000 passengers annually and only one train every two hours (plus a couple of extras)?
With all the housebuilding currently happening, plus the 10,000 planned over the next 20 years, usage of the station is only going to increase, and a better service will be necessary.

 

[geoffk]

I attended the reopening of Ashchurch in 1997, while working for Worcestershire County Council, having previously worked for Gloucestershire (in the public transport units). At that time, Ashchurch had a regular, direct service to Birmingham provided by Wales and West. This ended in 2001 and the main provider was then Central Trains, which operated to Birmingham via Worcester. Both ran to/from Cardiff every two hours, I believe. I've been away from the area for 16 years (so these dates may not be 100% correct) but am in regular contact with a former work colleague who lives in Tewkesbury and is part of the campaign to get a better service from Ashchurch to Birmingham. At present, this means Cross-Country, a franchise which has shown no interest in stopping more than a bare minimum of its Cardiff - Nottingham trains and which has quite recently removed all its stops at Bromsgrove. The opening of nearby Worcestershire Parkway will make this task even more difficult.

There is also an issue with fares, as I believe XC sets fares going north. A quick check on-line showed Ashchurch - Worcester stations off-peak return £10.45. A similar ticket to Bristol is only £10, FOUR times the distance! And XC doesn't even serve Worcester. I agree with the OP about the need for a semi-fast service to Birmingham and this has been mentioned in the Worcestershire Parkway thread.

 

[ABB125]

I attended the reopening of Ashchurch in 1997, while working for Worcestershire County Council, having previously worked for Gloucestershire (in the public transport units). At that time, Ashchurch had a regular, direct service to Birmingham provided by Wales and West. This ended in 2001 and the main provider was then Central Trains, which operated to Birmingham via Worcester. Both ran to/from Cardiff every two hours, I believe. I've been away from the area for 16 years (so these dates may not be 100% correct) but am in regular contact with a former work colleague who lives in Tewkesbury and is part of the campaign to get a better service from Ashchurch to Birmingham. At present, this means Cross-Country, a franchise which has shown no interest in stopping more than a bare minimum of its Cardiff - Nottingham trains and which has quite recently removed all its stops at Bromsgrove. The opening of nearby Worcestershire Parkway will make this task even more difficult.

There is also an issue with fares, as I believe XC sets fares going north. A quick check on-line showed Ashchurch - Worcester stations off-peak return £10.45. A similar ticket to Bristol is only £10, FOUR times the distance! And XC doesn't even serve Worcester. I agree with the OP about the need for a semi-fast service to Birmingham and this has been mentioned in the Worcestershire Parkway thread.

That's very interesting, thanks for your insight.

 

[jimm]

In the early days of the franchise, London Midland operated a two-hourly 'fill-in' service between Worcester and Gloucester, so providing an hourly service between those points. It wasn't successful and was soon withdrawn.

This service had two fundamental flaws.

One was that it did nothing to plug the gaping hole that exists both ways in services between Worcester and Cheltenham/Gloucester in the morning peak period from about 7am until after 9am (not that the location of Cheltenham Spa station does much to encourage commuters anyway), as the dmu was being used on a peak train into Birmingham at that time of the day.

The second was that it didn't provide an hourly service both ways when combined with the FGW trains. In one direction, I think it was northbound, the LM trains had to run at a time quite close to the FGW services to get back to Worcester for the southbound run, so there were still some big gaps between services.

Both Tewkesbury borough and Gloucestershire county council are well aware of the need to provide transport options for the people who will be living in the new houses and Worcestershire county council is also keen to see a better rail service on the route, but with all the focus on getting the new GWR timetable into place for December, aspirations for improvements in other ways have been put on the backburner for the moment. They will probably have to wait until there is an overhaul of the GWR service level commitment, which specifies what trains should be operated, and/or a contested new franchise for the region.

 

[PartyOperator]

Would there be scope to extend some of the GWR Swindon/Paddington trains and/or TFW Maesteg ones that currently terminate at Cheltenham? A regular link to Cheltenham and Gloucester would at least give access to a lot more other services.

 

[Grumpy]

Are there any other stations in the country with over 100,000 passengers annually and only one train every two hours (plus a couple of extras)?
.

Settle and Whitby spring to mind. The latter has significantly more passengers and the residents would be delighted by a train every two hours.

 

[jimm]

Would there be scope to extend some of the GWR Swindon/Paddington trains and/or TFW Maesteg ones that currently terminate at Cheltenham? A regular link to Cheltenham and Gloucester would at least give access to a lot more other services.

The GWR services (Swindon-Cheltenham dmu services end in December, bar one late evening round trip) have to turn round and go back to London to maintain the new hourly frequency on the Cheltenham route, not spend time going on to and from a place that will already have a minimum hourly service direct from London anyway. Any further extension of TfW operations into England is unlikely to go down well.

What is actually needed are some more GWR dmus, to provide an hourly service from Bristol to Worcester.

 

[ABB125]

Settle and Whitby spring to mind. The latter has significantly more passengers and the residents would be delighted by a train every two hours.

Of course, ideally Whitby would have a better service, but unfortunately there are a few infrastructure constraints.
Maybe I should amend the criteria so that only stations where there is loads of scope and capacity for additional services are included.

Would there be scope to extend some of the GWR Swindon/Paddington trains and/or TFW Maesteg ones that currently terminate at Cheltenham? A regular link to Cheltenham and Gloucester would at least give access to a lot more other services.

The GWR services (Swindon-Cheltenham dmu services end in December, bar one late evening round trip) have to turn round and go back to London to maintain the new hourly frequency on the Cheltenham route, not spend time going on to and from a place that will already have a minimum hourly service direct from London anyway. Any further extension of TfW operations into England is unlikely to go down well.

What is actually needed are some more GWR dmus, to provide an hourly service from Bristol to Worcester.

Whilst the 'easy win' is definitely an hourly GWR service, providing connections at Cheltenham to most of the country, longer term my preference would be for the TfW Maesteg service to be transferred to a different operator (which one I'm not sure) and curtailed at Cardiff. It could then be extended northwards, eventually to Birmingham, and would call at Ashchurch about 50 minutes after the preceding GWR service, which is a good. Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this idea:

• In it's current path, the Maesteg service arrives at Cheltenham at around xx33 (in the hours when it manages to get past Gloucester!), scuttles quickly into Alstone reversing siding, and leaves Cheltenham south again at xx45. So there is no time for an extension northwards.
• Any northward extension needs to bear in mind that the following service is the xx40 Manchester, non-stop to Birmingham. Therefore I'm not convinced that a 75mph DMU stopping at Ashchurch could make it to Abbotswood Junction and turn of the mainline for Worcester without being caught up by the following voyager at 100mph (or whatever the linespeed is). (It could of course wait for 40 minutes in a new platform loop at Ashchurch before heading south again!) There would be even more of a problem if the Maesteg train stayed on the mainline heading for BHM, because it would be calling at Worcestershire Parkway at around the same time the voyager passing through non-stop.
• A northward extension would require at least one, most likely two additional unit diagrams (if heading for Worcester, because it takes around 26 minutes from Cheltenham to Worcester Shrub Hill), or more if extending to Birmingham.
• It's worth noting that if the Maesteg service started/terminated at Cardiff, it's about 1hr 10-15 minutes to Cheltenham on the current timings, so a 9-minute extension north to Ashchurch would still permit a 5-hour round trip.

However, the basic summary is: "not going to happen any time soon"!

 

[TheBigD]

As I posted in the Worcestershire Parkway thread, a Birmingham-Bristol semi fast service is needed*, in the opposite 30 minutes to the current Nottingham-Cardiff service. xx00 departing Birmingham and xx15 arriving Birmingham. Currently there are the peak hour 0815 arrival (0624 Bristol-Stansted), and the 1800 Birmingham-Shrub Hill. However, I doubt there are either the paths or rolling stock available.

I suspect that the commuters from Ashchurch to Birmingham are in for a tough time once Worcestershire Parkway opens as the 1630, 1730, 1830 from New Street to Cardiff are all booked for 2 car 170s, unless XC find the majic rolling stock tree!!!

* For example, New Street, University, Worcestershire Parkway, Ashchurch, Cheltenham, Bristol Parkway, Temple Meads.

 

[Noddy]

What is actually needed are some more GWR dmus, to provide an hourly service from Bristol to Worcester.

Yep this should be the first priority. I live in the area and I’m stuck in the M5 because if you live along the Severn Vale/Valley towns and cities (Yate, Cam/Dursley, Glos, Chelt, Ashchurch, Worcs, Malvern) the two hourly service makes it difficult, if not impossible, to commute by train unless you’re simply doing Chelt/Glos-Bristol and return

 

[Sprinter107]

Yep this should be the first priority. I live in the area and I’m stuck in the M5 because if you live along the Severn Vale/Valley towns and cities (Yate, Cam/Dursley, Glos, Chelt, Ashchurch, Worcs, Malvern) the two hourly service makes it difficult, if not impossible, to commute by train unless you’re simply doing Chelt/Glos-Bristol and return

They're unreliable too. Very often, they dont get to Worcester.

 

[ABB125]

They're unreliable too. Very often, they dont get to Worcester.

One of the better aspects of the current service is that due to the paths the service has, it just isn't possible to turn around the service at Worcester to head back south reliably, hence the extension of most services to Malvern, which uses up the additional hour before the unit heads south from Worcester.
This has the advantage of being able to terminate the train early at Worcester in the event of late running, where onward connections to Malvern are available, and hopefully depart south on time.

 

[Dr Day]

Gloucestershire in general suffers because although its residents could reasonably commute to or have better rail access to Birmingham, London, Bristol, or Cardiff it is not the priority for any of those 'city regions', hence the franchise specifications (and subsidies towards) the 'local' TOCs who serve them. Cross Country fill a few gaps but only where it makes operational and commercial sense to do so, hence it is not their priority either.

Local commuting by train to smaller conurbations such as Worcester, Gloucester and Cheltenham suffers from lowish density housing and employment, making the train difficult to compete with the car, despite localised traffic congestion, for most door to door trips by the time you have got to and from a station at either end. It will be interesting to see how Worcestershire Parkway affects this part of the world.

So not an easy one to fix. Probably needs a major re-think of the Cross Country franchise with separation of the genuine 'InterCity' journeys, and the wider regional services - not just the current 170 routes but a bit more thinking out of the box to better serve the likes of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire etc. But that is for another thread.

 

[Noddy]

Gloucestershire in general suffers because although its residents could reasonably commute to or have better rail access to Birmingham, London, Bristol, or Cardiff it is not the priority for any of those 'city regions', hence the franchise specifications (and subsidies towards) the 'local' TOCs who serve them. Cross Country fill a few gaps but only where it makes operational and commercial sense to do so, hence it is not their priority either.

Local commuting by train to smaller conurbations such as Worcester, Gloucester and Cheltenham suffers from lowish density housing and employment, making the train difficult to compete with the car, despite localised traffic congestion, for most door to door trips by the time you have got to and from a station at either end. It will be interesting to see how Worcestershire Parkway affects this part of the world.

So not an easy one to fix. Probably needs a major re-think of the Cross Country franchise with separation of the genuine 'InterCity' journeys, and the wider regional services - not just the current 170 routes but a bit more thinking out of the box to better serve the likes of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire etc. But that is for another thread.

This is true but could at least be helped by new rolling stock and a better timetable. For example I live near Cam/Dursley and work in central Worcester and it takes about 55 min in the morning and 1hr 10 in the evening by car-I can’t commute by train because there is no early morning north bound train. However even if there was the current train service varies between 56 min and 1hr 13 min direct. As far as I’m aware the services are still timetabled for 75mph sprinters although some might be 90mph 158s. If modern high acceleration 100mph capable stock was introduced you could probably get it pretty close to 50min which would make the train competitive with the car, especially in the evening rush.

 

[edwin_m]

This is true but could at least be helped by new rolling stock and a better timetable. For example I live near Cam/Dursley and work in central Worcester and it takes about 55 min in the morning and 1hr 10 in the evening by car-I can’t commute by train because there is no early morning north bound train. However even if there was the current train service varies between 56 min and 1hr 13 min direct. As far as I’m aware the services are still timetabled for 75mph sprinters although some might be 90mph 158s. If modern high acceleration 100mph capable stock was introduced you could probably get it pretty close to 50min which would make the train competitive with the car, especially in the evening rush.

This would also help a bit with capacity, as long as it wasn't cancelled out by too many station stops. However it if was something like a 158 then the extra dwell time might eat up any savings made when on the move. There have also been ideas about introducing 125mph running on Birmingham-Bristol. This would exacerbate capacity issues, especially if the slower train stayed on the main line to serve Parkway instead of diverting via Shrub Hill to be overtaken.

 

[ABB125]

This would also help a bit with capacity, as long as it wasn't cancelled out by too many station stops. However it if was something like a 158 then the extra dwell time might eat up any savings made when on the move. There have also been ideas about introducing 125mph running on Birmingham-Bristol. This would exacerbate capacity issues, especially if the slower train stayed on the main line to serve Parkway instead of diverting via Shrub Hill to be overtaken.

It's worth noting that there is a northbound loop about a mile or so north of Worcestershire Parkway which could be used for overtaking stopping trains, but I don't know whether the loop is permitted for passenger trains. There is also a large time penalty for this method of operation for the slower train. If you are going to overtake, it might as well be in a station. Did someone say that Bromsgrove now has 4 platforms......?

 

[TheWalrus]

It's good to see that other people agree with me!
Are there any other stations in the country with over 100,000 passengers annually and only one train every two hours (plus a couple of extras)?
With all the housebuilding currently happening, plus the 10,000 planned over the next 20 years, usage of the station is only going to increase, and a better service will be necessary.

Pewsey has over 100000 passengers but will only just about have a two hourly come December. However up the line Bedwyn has about half the usage but an hourly service and Kintbury even less usage.

 

[The Planner]

There have also been ideas about introducing 125mph running on Birmingham-Bristol. This would exacerbate capacity issues, especially if the slower train stayed on the main line to serve Parkway instead of diverting via Shrub Hill to be overtaken.

We couldn't even do 100mph properly, 125mph is a pipe dream.

 

[ABB125]

Pewsey has over 100000 passengers but will only just about have a two hourly come December. However up the line Bedwyn has about half the usage but an hourly service and Kintbury even less usage.

Funnily enough I was at Pewsey a few weeks ago. A nice little station.

We couldn't even do 100mph properly, 125mph is a pipe dream.

In what way is it not done properly?

 

[CharlesR]

In terms of services at the station, my personal preference would be for the existing GWR service to become hourly (which I believe would simply require the extension of the service currently curtailed at Gloucester in the hours which it doesn't run to Worcester; I'm told that the only major barrier to this happening is availability of rolling stock). Longer term I would also like too see a 'semi-fast' service from Birmingham, calling at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire Parkway, Ashchurch, Cheltenham and Gloucester. It could terminate here, or absorb the TfW service to Maesteg as far as Cardiff, or continue to Bristol, I don't mind. The main issue for this service would be capacity around Birmingham.

I agree with the points made for a better service, not just at Ashchurch but certainly across the county. I am a resident of Gloucester and it is my nearest railway station. As of present, the service to London is mildly inconvenient however the December timetable change will make things a lot easier. Capacity on the Cardiff-Birmingham line is fairly limited at the moment, however the Transport for Wales services will soon become an hourly service (2023) relieving some passengers onto that service.

Gloucester-Worcester is served inadequately. A service every 2 hours is not practical, and makes commuting difficult. Worcestershire Parkway may help however will not be the most convenient when you require to change to carry a journey that should take less than 40 minutes.

Gloucester-Bristol is also served poorly. Metrowest 2 proposes an hourly service between these stations. What would be good is a semi fast service running WorcesterSH-Worcestershire Pway-Cheltenham-Gloucester-Parkway-Temple Meads.

In the future it would be nice to see Cardiff-Birmingham services serving this at times to create a 2tph calling pattern. It would also be nice to see in the next couple of decades to have the Golden Valley servies run every 30 minutes with 1 service for Gloucester and the other for Cheltenham.

 

[Sprinter107]

I agree with the points made for a better service, not just at Ashchurch but certainly across the county. I am a resident of Gloucester and it is my nearest railway station. As of present, the service to London is mildly inconvenient however the December timetable change will make things a lot easier. Capacity on the Cardiff-Birmingham line is fairly limited at the moment, however the Transport for Wales services will soon become an hourly service (2023) relieving some passengers onto that service.

Gloucester-Worcester is served inadequately. A service every 2 hours is not practical, and makes commuting difficult. Worcestershire Parkway may help however will not be the most convenient when you require to change to carry a journey that should take less than 40 minutes.

Gloucester-Bristol is also served poorly. Metrowest 2 proposes an hourly service between these stations. What would be good is a semi fast service running WorcesterSH-Worcestershire Pway-Cheltenham-Gloucester-Parkway-Temple Meads.

In the future it would be nice to see Cardiff-Birmingham services serving this at times to create a 2tph calling pattern. It would also be nice to see in the next couple of decades to have the Golden Valley servies run every 30 minutes with 1 service for Gloucester and the other for Cheltenham.

A train would be unable to call at Worcestershire Parkway on it's way from Worcester Shrub Hill to Cheltenham Spa

 

[CharlesR]

A train would be unable to call at Worcestershire Parkway on it's way from Worcester Shrub Hill to Cheltenham Spa

Forgot about that.

 

[The Planner]

In what way is it not done properly?

A lot more of Bromsgrove to Abbotswood was planned to be 100, never got over the finishing line due to level crossing problems and money.

 

[ABB125]

A lot more of Bromsgrove to Abbotswood was planned to be 100, never got over the finishing line due to level crossing problems and money.

Are level crossings an insurmountable problem? Is the main issue with foot crossings or road crossings or both?

 

[edwin_m]

Are level crossings an insurmountable problem? Is the main issue with foot crossings or road crossings or both?

Every crossing has to be risk assessed when planned to carry more or faster trains (or indeed if road traffic has increased, and regularly re-assessed just to be sure). On a route with a fair number of crossings it seems to be pretty much a certainty that late in the scheme the risk assessment comes back saying that at least one of them is unacceptable with the planned changes unless a lot of money is spent on upgrading or closure. This in turn is likely to bust the agreed budget.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Pewsey has over 100000 passengers but will only just about have a two hourly come December. However up the line Bedwyn has about half the usage but an hourly service and Kintbury even less usage.

But I would suggest Pewsey is not comparable to Ashchurch in terms of the actual/potential market. Pewsey is effectively an outer Paddington commuter station, ie something like 75% of traffic (a guess) is into Reading/London departures 06.30 - 09.00 and back from PAD between 16.00 and 19.00.
How many passengers board the one morning departure heading west on average? I suspect there are days when that is a big round 0.

I suspect Ashchurch traffic is far better distributed across the day, and in both directions. Although, sad to say it doesn't have a decent 08.xx commuter time departure for Cheltenham and Gloucester.