Railways in Worcestershire

RAILWAYS IN WORCESTERSHIRE
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WORCESTERSHIRE 2017 - TRAIN SERVICE SUMMARY

The 2016/17 passenger timetables ran from 11th December 2016 being valid until 20th May 2017 and then from 21st May 2017 to 31st December 2017 with minor changes,

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
Services on this route were operated by Cross Country Trains, with most trains going via Spetchley.
Trains to and from Bristol and the West Country did not stop anywhere in Worcestershire and were 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) was routed via Worcester Shrub Hill, at 21.01 but did not stop. On Mondays to Fridays the 21:14 from Paignton to Birmingham New Street (1M80) routed non-stop through Worcester Shrub Hill.
The basic service pattern being half-hourly. Trains to the South-west left Birmingham New Street at xx:12 and xx:42 and to the North-east left Cheltenham Spa at xx:11 and xx:40 The trains took about forty minutes to travel between these two stations.

Trains between Cardiff and Nottingham were 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 stopped at Bromsgrove in the morning (one of which at 07:49 continued to Stanstead Airport and two Cardiff bound trains called 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 did not stop in the county. Trains to Cardiff left Birmingham New Street at xx:30 and those to Nottingham left 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  routed via Worcester Shrub Hill but did not stop. In the opposite direction the 21:50 (1M89) from Cardiff to Birmingham also routed via Worcester without stopping.
Some services wereoperated 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.
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 is not scheduled for an HST.
Sunday:
1V48 08:10 Leeds to Plymough returning with 1S53 13:25 Plymouth to Edinburgh.
1V50 09:00 Leeds to Plymouth returning with 1S55 14:25 Leeds to Edinburgh.

Birmingham New Street to Hereford
Services on this route were operated by London Midland Trains using, mostly, class 170/5 two-car diesel multiple units and class 170/6 three-car diesel multiple units. Some services were operated by two-car class 150 diesel mutilpe units.The basic weekday travel pattern was 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 being just about 90 minutes with four sets of diesel multiple units required to operate the service. Trains pass each other near Worcester. Two services in each direction stopped at Barnt Green.
There was also a 'ghost' London Midland service which left 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 saw no other scheduled London Midland services. The train returned to Worcester as empty stock (5Z30).

London Paddington to Worcester and Hereford
(former Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and Worcester & Hereford Railway)
Services on this route were operated by Great Western Railway using class 43 'HST 125' diesel multiple units, two- or three-car class 165/1 diesel multiple units, three-car class 166 diesel multiple units. or five-car class 180  'Adelante' diesel multiple units.  No services were operated by class 180 units on Saturdays or Sundays. The only major change in the December 2016 timetable was a change of traction from class 180 'Adelante' five-car diesel multiple to class 43 'HST' for the 11:20 from London to Great Malvern and 14:25 return.

Monday to Friday
Services from London Paddington over the 'Cotswold line'  terminated 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 (1W01); 17:22 (1W02); 18:22 'Cathedrals Express' (1W03) and 19:22 (1W04).
to Worcester Foregate Street at 13:22 (1W27).
to Worcester Shrub Hill at 12:21 (1W25); 17:49 (1W36); 19:48 (via Cheltenham Spa) (1G38) and 21:48 (not HST on Fridays)(1W44)*.
to Great Malvern at 11:22 11.20 until 12/5/2017)(1W23) and 20:22 (1W41)*.
* 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 - 1P19 until 12/5/2017); 06:42 'Cathedrals Express' (1P26); 15:14 (1P65) and 21:51 (1P90).
from Great Malvern at 14:25 (1P57).
from Worcester Shrub Hill at 05:11 (1P07); 05:28 (via Cheltenham and Ashchurch) (1L10), 07:08 (via Cheltenham Spa) (1L28) and 15:21 (1P61).
from Worcester Foregate Street at 15:56 (1P63) and 20:59 (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)(1L39 from 28/10/2017). Did not run during the summer and previously operated as 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 nine trains (one every two hours) from various destinations to Great Malvern or Worcester. Because these are slow trains, and it was often possible to catch later trains and change to these train en-route, the printed timetable (C5) did not show the full service.
Monday to Friday service:
06:01 Gloucester to Worcester Shrub Hill (2G79) and 06:49 Worcester Shrub Hill to Weymouth (2O70).
07:15 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).  Operated by three-car class 158 unit.
12:27 Southampton Central to Great Malvern (2M98) and 16:48 Great Malvern to Westbury (2F99).
15:38 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 (21:49 unyil 12/5/2017) 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).

Saturday service:
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 21:15 Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester (2G98).
20:43 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill (2E29) and 22:24 Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester (2T35).

The Sunday service consisted of five trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill at  09:20 (2E34), 12:11 (2E38), 14:41 (2E42), 16:41 (2E44) and 18:37 (2E46). These trains returned at 11:38 (2T35), 14.36 (2T39 to Weston-super-Ware). 16:40 (2T43), 18:40 (2T45) and 20:38 (2T47).

Most services operated by 150/1, 150/2 or 150/9 three-car hybrid units but class Class 153 railcars also used to make up three-car trains. The three-car hybrid class 158 diesel multiple units operated one service.
Becuase of the inadequate turnround facilities at Great Malvern delayed northbound service terminate short at Worcester 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 were operated by London Midland Trains using one of two class 139 single-car diesel railcars (the other was spare in the shed at Stourbridge Junction).

LICHFIELD TO REDDITCH
Six trains per hour ran on this route with two per hour being extended to Redditch. All services operated by London Midland Trains using three-car class 323 electric multiple units.

Updated 25/9/2017.


FREIGHT TRAINS
Updated 25/9/2017. The pattern of freight services in the county in 2017 remained little different from that in 2016.
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 up to three trains per weekday of covered vans:

1. About 04:30 from Margam to Round Oak, via Worcester Shrub Hill about 09:30; returning to Margam from Round Oak with the train code No.6V07 via Worcester Shrub Hill about 15:30.
2. About 11.15 from Margam, via Worcester Shrub Hill at about 17.00; returning to Margam from Round Oak about 21:15.
3. About about 22:00 and arrives at Round Oak before the sun rises; returnings to Margam as No.6V05 09:15 from Round Oak  empty covered vans (as on 12th May 2016 with No.66238 as seen at Abbotswood Junction).
Services were 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 05:21 Margam to Corby conditional train arrives at Bromsgrove around 10:10 if running. This train is banked up the Lickey Incline.  
6V92 10:46 Corby to Margam empty steel wagons. This train passes Bromsgrove just after 14:15 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 most days, but the timings can vary. 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.

Other Freight Trains
There are a few other freight tranis 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 a few trains.
Weekends
There are few freight trains on Saturdays or Sundays.


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