Worcestershire Parkway railway station

Worcestershire Parkway
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Worcestershire Parkway Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Wychavon
Coordinates	52°09′20″N 2°09′39″W / 52.1556°N 2.1609°W
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	WOP
Key dates
December 2019	Due to open

Worcestershire Parkway is a new railway station currently being built at a rural junction where the Cotswold and Cross Country lines cross near Norton, Worcester, England.^[1] It is expected to open in 2019.^[2]

Key Priorities

to address the county's exclusion from the CrossCountry route (South West-Bristol-North West/North East), meaning connections only possible at Cheltenham or Birmingham.
support economic growth.
to improve London services with increased frequency and shorter journey times.
to improve current minimal car parking facilities, as current stations have little space for expansion.^[3]

Funding

Worcestershire County Council set aside £3 million for park and ride facilities at the station in 2007,^[4]^[5] while in June 2008 it was announced that the station was unlikely to be built for many years.^[6] Following this, in October 2008 an e-petition was set up on the No 10 website calling for a Worcestershire Parkway.

The Third Worcestershire Local Transport Plan (LTP3) cites Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange as the top transport priority for Worcestershire.^[7] It is also listed in the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy as a Sub Regional Priority, and features in Policy T6 - Strategic Park and Ride. Worcestershire County Council is currently coordinating the development of the business case. An outline business case was developed by Laing Rail in March 2006, which concluded in favour of the development of Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange.^[8] The revised business case was submitted to the Department for Transport's Rail Office, who gave their formal support to the project in 2012.^[9]

In February 2013, Worcestershire County Council submitted a bid to the Network Rail managed New Stations Fund for £7 million to fund the first phase of development of Worcestershire Parkway.^[10] This application was turned down in July 2013.^[11]

In July 2014 the station was given funding as part of a government infrastructure fund distributed to local enterprise partnerships.^[12] The leader of Worcestershire County Council has said that he hoped the project would be completed by 2017.^[13]

Progress

Artist impressions were released in February 2015 and the council said that a planning application had been submitted, with a decision due to have been made during the summer of 2015. The plan was for work to commence by the spring of 2016 and the station was on track to open in summer 2017, the county council said.^[14]

In February 2015, Worcestershire County Council advertised for contractors for the construction of the railway station to include platforms, station building, passenger footbridge and lifts with a commencement date of late September 2015 with completion in May 2017.^[15] On 25 August 2015 planning permission was granted, with work expected to start in 2016. The cost of the scheme was estimated at £22m.^[16]^[17]

A potential legal battle between Worcester County Council and Norton Parkway Developments, who currently own the land, started in 2016. Norton Parkway Developments refused to hand over the land to the council as they feel that they were in a position to complete the development themselves.^[18]

In January 2017, WCC's plans for Worcestershire Parkway were approved by the DfT.^[19] In February 2017, clearance work on the site began, and Worcestershire County Council appointed Buckingham Group Contracting as the developer as part of a design and build deal.^[20]^[21] Construction work finally began in early 2018, with a planned opening date in 2019.^[22] In November 2019 it was announced that the station would open on 15th December 2019. ^[23]

Construction Phases

Phase 1 involves building a platform on the Cotswold Line, a station building, interchange facilities, a 300 space car park, road access and infrastructure for phase 2 construction. The station will then be served by Worcester - Oxford/London services, the aim is also to run trains to get to London in 2 hours or less.^[24]

Phase 2 involves building two new platforms on the Birmingham - Bristol Main Line and on top of that an additional 200 car parking spaces. The station will then be served by all Nottingham - Cardiff services.^[24] Phase 2 will provide a new footbridge on the Birmingham - Bristol main line to replace an existing footpath crossing.^[24]

Phase 3 will involve getting additional Cross-Country trains to call at the station.^[24]

Concerns

Concerns were raised that the construction of Worcestershire Parkway would lead to reduced services at Worcester Foregate Street. However, this was rejected in 2014 by the deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council, Councillor Simon Geraghty, who said, "There has been no risk identified by Network Rail to existing railway stations."^[25]

Services

Preceding station		Following station
Cheltenham Spa	CrossCountry Cardiff – Nottingham	University
Ashchurch for Tewkesbury limited service	CrossCountry Cardiff – Nottingham	University
Worcester Shrub Hill	Great Western Railway Hereford – London Paddington	Pershore or Evesham