Rail industry bosses felt the strength of local opinion against threatened cuts at a summit meeting called by a West Midlands public transport watchdog.
Cllr Gary Clarke, chairman of the Passenger Transport Authority, which called today’s meeting said the industry had been given a week to come back with proposals to avoid some of the cuts in rail services on the Birmingham to Coventry line. (see update below)
“They were left in no doubt about the strength of opinion and we presented some forceful arguments on behalf of the West Midlands travelling public,” he announced as he left the meeting at Centro House.
He said it was a very constructive meeting and hoped that the Strategic Rail Authority, Network Rail and the two train operating companies could still find a way forward between them.
“We have asked them to come back with proposals for both Monday to Friday – where passengers faced a cut of one train an hour – and the Saturday service where the planned timetable meant 7000 fewer seats,” he added.
The West Midlands PTA is the policy-setting body for Centro which had raised major concerns over the revised timetable to take effect at the end of next month between New Street, Birmingham International and Coventry.
Centro had been assured that heralded new services as a result of the West Coast Main Line improvement works could start to be implemented – but postponement of some of the works and late changes to the timetable threaten to create big gaps in the service to the NEC and Birmingham International Airport.
The public transport promoter warned of seriously overcrowded trains and platforms on what is the region’s busiest rail route.
"We were facing a situation where the turn-up-and-go service to Birmingham International would effectively disappear," commented Cllr Gary Clarke. “Unless the rail industry can find a way forward, people used to a high-frequency service to the Airport will have to start checking timetables to make sure they can catch their flight. The service will struggle to cope with demand, especially when there are large events on at the NEC. That is why we stepped in today to try and broker a deal," he added.
Update: Friday evening 27 August
A joint response from the rail industry was received at Centro this evening, which includes some proposals for improving train services between Birmingham New Street, International and Coventry. This will now be considered immediately after the Bank Holiday, with the likelihood that councillors will meet on Thursday to decide on a PTA response.
Previous release: summit called
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