Railways in Worcestershire

RAILWAYS IN WORCESTERSHIRE
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WORCESTERSHIRE 2016 - TRAIN SERVICE SUMMARY

The 2015/16 passenger timetables started on 13th December 2015 being valid until 14th May 2016. The 2016 timetable commenced on 15th May 2016 until 10th December 2016. The details below refer to the 2016 timetable. There were no significant changes from the previous timetable.

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
Services on this route are operated by Cross Country Trains. Most trains go via Spetchley..
Trains to and from Bristol and the West Country do not stop anywhere in Worcestershire and are operated mostly using four-car class 220 'Voyager' diesel multiple units or five-car class 221 'Voyager' diesel multiple units. On Saturdays the 20:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Birmingham New Street (headcode 1M77) is routed via Worcester Shrub Hill, at 21.01 but it does not stop.
The basic service pattern is half-hourly. Trains to the South-west leave Birmingham New Street at xx:12 and xx:42 and to the North-east leave Cheltenham Spa at xx:11 and xx:40 The trains take about forty minutes to travel between these two stations.

Trains between Cardiff and Nottingham are operated using two-car class 170/1 diesel multiple units, two-car class 170/5 diesel multiple units or three-car class 170/6 diesel multiple units. Two Birmingham bound trains stop at Bromsgrove in the morning (one of which at 07:49 continues to Stanstead Airport and two Cardiff bound trains call there in the afternoon, presumably to cater for commuter traffic to and from Birmingham New Street. Apart from these four trains (Monday to Friday only) the rest do not stop in the county. Trains to Cardiff leave Birmingham New Street at xx:30 and those to Nottingham leave Cheltenham at xx:01. If running on time the trains would pass each other near Spetchley.
From Monday to Saturday the 05:00 (1V01) and 05:37 (1V02) services from Birmingham New Street to Cardiff are routed via Worcester Shrub Hill but do not stop.
Some services are operated by an HST 125 set with a class 43 diesel power car at each end.
Monday to Saturday:
1V44 06:00 Leeds to Plymouth returning with 1S53 13.:25 Plymouth to Glasgow
1V54 06:32 Dundee to Plymouth returning with 1E73 17:25 Plymouth to Leeds (Monday to Friday). Operates from Leeds on Saturdays.
1V46 06:40 York to Plymouth returning with 1S53 13:25 Plymouth to Edinburgh (Monday to Friday). This train is not scheduled for an HST on Saturdays.
1V50 06:06 Edinburgh to Plymouth returning with 1E63 15:25 Plymouth to Leeds (Mondays to Fridays). This train start at Leeds on Saturdays and is not scheduled for an HST.

Birmingham New Street to Hereford
Services on this route are operated by London Midland Trains using mostly class 170/5 two-car diesel multiple units and class 170/6 three-car diesel multiple units. The basic weekday travel pattern is hourly with services leaving Birmingham New Street at xx:49 and Hereford at xx:40 (there are some minor variations). The time taken for the full journey is just about 90 minutes and four sets of diesel multiple units are required to operate the service. Trains pass each other near Worcester. Two services in each direction stop at Barnt Green.
There is also a 'ghost' London Midland service which leaves Birmingham New Street 23.00 on Fridays only for Worcester Shrub Hill and Gloucester (1V30). The section of line between Worcester Shrub Hill and Gloucester sees no other scheduled London Midland services. The train returns to Worcester as empty stock.

London Paddington to Worcester and Hereford
(former Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and Worcester & Hereford Railway)
Services on this route are operated by Great Western Railway using either class 43 'HST 125' diesel multiple units, two-car class 165/1 diesel multiple units, three-car class 166 diesel multiple units. or class 180 five-car 'Adelante' diesel multiple units.
Monday to Friday
Services from London Paddington over the 'Cotswold line'  termined at Worcester, Malvern or Hereford to no particular pattern. Services operated at totally different times on Saturdays and Sundays with most trains going to Great Malvern or Hereford.
'HST's' were scheduled to operate the following services from London Paddington:
to Hereford at: 10:22 (1W02); 17:22 (1W07); 18:22 'Cathedrals Express' (1W08) and 19:22 (1W09).
to Worcester Shrub Hill at 12:20 (1W32);  19:48 (via Cheltenham Spa) (1G88) and 21:48 (not HST on Fridays)(1W81)*.
to Great Malvern at 20:22 (1W75)*.
* Empty stock stabled overnight at Worcester.
A similar situation occured in the 'up' direction.
The HST services to London operated at the following times:
from Hereford at 04:50 (1P13); 05:28 (1P21); 06:42 'Cathedrals Express' (1P26); 15:14 (1P65) and 21:51 (1P90).
from Worcester Shrub Hill at 05:11 (1P07); 05:21 (via Cheltenham and Ashchurch) (1L10), 07:07 (via Cheltenham Spa) (1L28) and 15:21 (1P61)
from Worcester Foregate Street at (1P87).
Saturdays:
The HST services from London operated at the following times:
to Great Malvern at 05:17 (1W10).
to Hereford at 08:21 (1W00); 10:21 (1W02); 16:21 (1W06) and 18:21 (1W08).
to Worcester Foregate Street at 17:21 (1W07).
The HST services to London operated at the following times:
from Hereford at 06:17 (1P26); 07:10 (1P31); 12:13 (1P51); 15:13 (1P65) and 20:20 (1P87).
from Worcester Shrub Hill at 08:36 (via Cheltenham Spa)(1L40).
from Worcester Foregate Street at 20:02 (1P83).
from Great Malvern at 08:43 (1P37).
Sundays:
The HST services from London operated at the following times:
to Hereford at 08:42 (1W01); 10:42 (1W02); 12:42 (1W03) and 17:42 (1W08)
to Worcester Shrub Hill at 21:42 (1W79)
to Worcester Foregate Street at 13.42 (1W39)
to Great Malvern at 19.42 (1W73)
The HST services to London operated at the following times:
from Hereford: at 13:32 (1P57); 14:32 (1P63) and 16:34 (1P73)
from Worcester Foregate Street at 16:28 (1P77)

Great Malvern to the South Coast
Great Western Railway operated seven trains (one every two hours) from various destinations to Great Malvern. Because these are slow trains, and it is often possible to catch later trains and change to these train en-route, the printed timetable (C5) does not show the full service.
The Monday to Friday service is:
06:01 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill (2G79) and 06:49 Worcester Shrub Hill to Weymouth (2O70).
07:14 Gloucester to Great Malvern (2G80) and 08:50 Great Malvern to Westbury (2F97).
07:23 Warminster to Great Malvern (2E17) and 10:50 Great Malvern to Brighton (1O98).
08:23 Southampton Central to Great Malvern (2M97) and 12:51 Great Malvern to Weymouth (2O90).
08:59 Brighton to Great Malvern (1V94) and 14:50 Great Malvern to Weymouth (2O94).
12:27 Southampton Central to Great Malvern (2M98) and 16:48 Great Malvern to Westbury (2F99).
15:28 Warminster to Great Malvern (2E25) and 18:50 Great Malvern to Bristol Temple Meads (2T97).
17:28 Warminster to Worcester Shrub Hill (2E27) and 21:46 Worcester Shrub Hill to Bristol Temple Meads (2T99).
20:41 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill (2E29)  and 22:28 Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester (2G99).

The Saturday service is:
05:50 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill (2G79) and 06:47 Worcester Shrub Hill to Weymouth (2O70).
07:15 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill (2G80) and 09:08 Worcester Shrub Hill to Westbury (2F97).
07:23 Warminster to Great Malvern (2E17) and 10:46 Great Malvern to Brighton (1O99).
08:27 Southampton Central to Worcester Foregate Street (2M97) and 12:41 Worcester Foregate Street to Weymouth (2O90).
09:00 Brighton to Great Malvern (1V94) and 14:50 Great Malvern to Weymouth (2O94).
12:27 Southampton Central to Great Malvern (2M98) and 16:50 Great Malvern to Westbury (2F98).
15:28 Warminster to Great Malvern (2E25) and 18:50 Great Malvern to Bristol Temple Meads (2T97).
17:28 Warminster to Worcester Shrub Hill (2E27) and 21:46 Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester (2G98).

The Sunday service consists of four trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill at 12:11 (2E38), 14:41 (2E42), 16:41 (2E44) and 18:3741 (2E46). These trains return at 14.36 (2T39) to Weston-super-Ware). 16:40 (2T43), 18:40 (2T45) and 20:38 (2T47).

Most services are operated by three-car hybrid class 158 diesel multiple units, but class 150/1, 150/2, 150/9 three-car hybrid units Class 153 railcars can also used to make up three-car trains. The first service of the day is often worked by a class 150 unit
If the northbound service meets with major delays it is terminated short at Worcester Shrub Hill or Gloucester in order not to delay the return service.

Services from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge, Worcester and Great Malvern
Trains on this route are operated by London Midland Trains using two-car or three-car class 172 diesel multiple units (class 150 diesel multiple units until the autumn of 2011). Anintensive service of commuter trains operates to Stourbridge Junction with many trains continuing to Kidderminster, Worcester Shrub Hill or Great Malvern. Trains formations often run as two units coupled together to make four or five car trains. Some trains also include a single car class 153 railcar in their consist, but this is rare following the transfer of many of the class to other operators. Many services run to or from Dorridge and other locations on the lines to Leamington and Stratford on Avon.
Kidderminster to London Marylebone
From Monday to Friday Chiltern Railways operates four services each weekday from Kidderminster to London Marylebone via Birmingham Snow Hill and Leamington Spa. These depart from Kidderminster at 06:09, 07:05, 07:30 and 08:09 (1H19, 1H26, 1H29 and 1H33). The fastest of these services (06:09), despite numerous stops in the West Midlands reaches London in just two hours and twenty minutes. One other service starts at Stourbridge Junction at 06:38 (1H21). On Saturdays there are three trains from Kidderminster at 07:12 (1H26), 08:13 (1H33) and 09:10 (1H389).
The return services (Monday to Friday) run from Marylebone to Kidderminster 17:15, 18:15, 18.47 and 20:15 (1K57, 1K62, 1K65 and 1K72) and at 21:15 (1J776) to Stourbridge Junction. On Saturdays and Sundays there are no services from Marylebone to Kidderminster or Stourbridge.
The empty stock from these trains is serviced at Stourbridge Junction Depot.
There are no Sunday services.

STOURBRIDGE TOWN BRANCH
Frequent services on the branch from Stourbridge Junction are operated by London Midland Trains using one of two class 139 single-car diesel railcars (the other can be found in the shed at Stourbridge Junction).

LICHFIELD TO REDDITCH
Six trains per hour run on this route with two per hour being extended to Redditch. All services are operated by London Midland Trains using three-car class 323 electric multiple units.
FREIGHT TRAINS
Updated 12/5/2016. Since the last update there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of freight trains in the county. Many of the trains listed below are conditional.
Most of the only regular freight trains are on the former Birmingham & Gloucester Railway with a few going through Worcester Shrub Hill to Round Oak or Handsworth. The ones listed here are some of the daytime services that might be seen.

Margam to Round Oak

This traffic flow consists of one or two trains per weekday of covered vans.
The first train leaves Margam about 22:00 and arrives at Round Oak before the sun rises. If this train runs it returns to Margam mid-morning as 6V05 09:16 Round Oak to Margam empty covered vans (as on 12th May 2016 with No.66238 as seen at Abbotswood Junction).
There is also a schduled early morning loaded train (6M81) at about 04:45 from Margam to Round Oak loaded covered vans via Worcester Shrub Hill about 09:20. The locomotive from this train returns to Margam from Round Oak with the train code No.6V07 via Worcester Shrub Hill about 15:30. Operated by DB Schenker class 66 diesel locomotives.

Margam to Corby

This flow consists of loaded steel coil open wagons from Margam and returning empties. Operated by a DB Schenker class 66 diesel locomotives. There are also overnight balancing workings.
6M96 05:50 Margam to Corby conditional train arrives at Bromsgrove around 10:00 if running. This train is banked up the Lickey Incline.
6V92 10:23 Corby to Margam empty steel wagons. This train passes Bromsgrove just after 14:00 if running. No.66097 was seen at Abbotswood on 4th May 2016.

Daventry to Wentloog Tesco containers train

4V38 08:20 from Daventry to Wentloog. This container train service which started operating on 28th February 2012 can be relied upon to run.It normally passes Abbotswood Junction at about 10:15am (on 12th May 2014 No.66304 was on this train) and runs every day except Saturday. Operated by a DRS livery class 66 diesel locomotive. The return working (4V36) passes Abbotswood about 20:45 but on Sundays goes via Worcester.
Stoke Gifford to Rugeley
An occasional flow of loaded wagons of imported coal from Portbury to Rugrlry and return empty wagons.gons. Operated by Freightliner. This trains have ceased.
Westerleigh to Lindsey empty oil tankers
6E41 11:41 Westerleigh to Lindsey empty oil tankers. Operated by DB Schenker using class 60 diesel locomotives. The train passes Bromsgrove about 13:50 if running on its scheduled path. The balancing working 6V98 loaded tanks goes through Worcestershire during the night. 6E41 operates often but irregularly. This train no longer runs..
Other Freight Trains
There are a few other freight trais trains to be seen during the hours of daylight including nuclear flask trains from Berkeley and Plymouth (infrequent) and Bridgwater (operated by DRS) and the New Measurement Train.
Overnight there are quiet a few trains including loaded steel trains from Margam (operated by EWS).
Weekends
There are few freight trains on Saturdays or Sundays.
From Tuesday 26th October 2016 for twelve days the line from Bromsgrove to Abbotswood Junction was closed to allow works to be progressed on the extension of electrification from Barnt Green to Bromsgrove, and to commission new signalling equipment.
The weather was grim on the first day and following the collpase of freight traffic the only daylight running freight train diverting via Worcester was the Bescot to Avonmouth Hanson tanks, seen at Norton with DB Cargo class 66 diesel locomotive No.66171 in charge. Photograph taken by Andrew Smith.
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