THE CHAIRMAN of another passenger campaign group has reiterated Bromsgrove Rail User Group’s (BRUG) calls for Cross Country trains to stop at the town’s station.
Dr Stephen Wright is from Railfuture West Midlands which is composed of volunteers with an interest in the railways.
It lobbies for the development of passenger and freight railway services and nationwide the organisation has around 20,000 members.
He said: “It’s excellent Bromsgrove now has a regular and frequent service to Birmingham stations, but the service southwards is woefully inadequate, just one train an hour to Worcester, Malvern and Hereford – and frequently heavily over-subscribed.
“Getting beyond to Cheltenham, Gloucester or Bristol needs a change at Worcester and with only one train every two hours.
“Newport and Cardiff are a little better, changing at Hereford, although there can be lengthy waits there for connections.
“What we want now are direct trains to the South West.
“The upcoming replacement for the Cross Country franchise in 2019 offers a chance to provide these, with some of the trains to or from Bristol calling at Bromsgrove.
“Not only does this give a new direct service for residents of Bromsgrove and its neighbourhood, including Redditch, but also provides the ability for passengers from South West Birmingham to travel to the south west without having to backtrack to New Street station.
“On behalf of Railfuture I have submitted a response to the Department for Transport’s consultation on the future Cross Country trains franchise and included is our aspiration for regular stops at Bromsgrove by trains destined for Bristol and beyond.”
The deadline for comments on the Cross Country Franchise Consultation in tomorrow (Thursday, August 30).
Residents can visit https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cross-country-rail-franchise to have their say on the consultation.
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