The plot to build a station at Darlaston
With the Combined Authority having acquired a plot for a station at Darlaston, passengers could be buying tickets and riding trains between Walsall and Wolverhampton by 2021, Rob Mayor reported.
However, ‘more work needs to be done on the feasibility’, according to Andy Mayor (Andy Street).
Darlaston and Willenhall are two of nine new stations proposed for the West Midlands county by the Combined Authority. Most likely, they would be served by just an hourly shuttle between Walsall and Wolverhampton, and an hourly service between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.
Because Darlaston town centre is some distance for the railway, most local public transport journeys would continue to be done by bus, and the value of the new stations is more totemic than real.
No doubt the case for Willenhall and Darlaston would be much better, for longer journeys, if a frequent (4 to 6 trains per hour) service could operate between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. This could be done if the Benson Road curve were built, and trains ran via the Soho loop, into Snow Hill station.
Benson Road ought to be the #1 priority for railway investment in the West Midlands, but the Combined Authority has a very different view.
Soho loop line, showing location of possible new stations and the Benson Road curve (none of which are supported by the Combined Authority)
A potential way of achieving the useful link at Soho Pool (usually called Benson Road curve) was drafted some years ago commissioned by Birmingham Friends of the Earth by a civil engineer. the scheme plan is part of a response by BFOE to a rail strategy some years ago.
Bob
August 15, 2018 at 9:49 pm