Railways around Coventry

Thanks, Peter

Next week I will be travelling, by car, from Bedworth to Coventry station, and I would like to know if road works between Foleshill Road and the station have been completed. Thus ensuring I get to the station in plenty of time for my train. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Tricia I am unable to make a comment regards road conditions, between Bedworth & Coventry rail station, but did you know that there is an hourly train service from Bedworth to Coventry railway station? Click, then go to page 196.

Thanks Philip. I hadn't realised that there was an hourly service to Coventry from Bedworth, maybe I will be able to use it another time, unfortunately on this occasion we have to travel by car.

'Wall of silence' from county council over Kenilworth Station viability - Kenilworth News The original approval in 2010(!) gave estimated passenger numbers as 275,000 single trips (one return = two single trips) and a project cost of £11.5m at 2012/3 prices. The final cost is £13.6m, a 18% increase (vs 8% inflation). More interesting is the "potential service" proposed which was: (a) AM peak hour Chiltern Railways services to London Marylebone with calls at Kenilworth and Leamington; (b) PM peak hour Chiltern Railways services from London Marylebone with calls at Kenilworth and Leamington (c) Four services per day to and from London by introducing Kenilworth calls on the existing Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway (WSMR) (d) Off-peak services provided by a shuttle service between Leamington and Coventry with calls at Kenilworth. WSMR ceased trading in 2011 and there is currently no mention of through trains to London (or Birmingham). Bedworth with a higher population only gets 85,000 single journeys/year so it will be interesting to see what the actual usage will be. Peter.

Thanks, Peter - it's all going so well, isn't it?

If they delay opening until after 1st April, the 2018/9 usage figures will be for an incomplete year; which would be a good excuse to defend any low numbers - but perhaps I am being cynical . Peter.

Pathfinders Tours have an excursion - Heart of Wales Wanderer - this coming Saturday (24 March) running from Eastleigh. Expected haulage is a pair of Class 37 diesels, and there is a pickup booked for Coventry at 08.05 Eastleigh (pu) - Basingstoke (pu) - Reading West (pu) - Didcot Parkway (pu) - Oxford (pu) - Banbury (pu) - Leamington Spa (pu) - Coventry (pu) - Birmingham International (pu) - Shrewsbury - (break, 2.1/4hrs) Craven Arms - Knighton - Llandrindod Wells - Llandovery - Pantyffynnon - Swansea District Line - Port Talbot Parkway - Cardiff Central - Newport - Severn Tunnel - Birmingham International (sd) - Coventry (sd) - Leamington Spa (sd) - Banbury (sd) - Oxford (sd) - Didcot Parkway (sd) - Reading West (sd) - Basingstoke (sd) - Eastleigh

Morning all & thank you for that info MR. Brill! A Class 37 on the South Devon heritage railway. The class 37 or type 3 in old BR language, is a very successful mid-range diesel-electric loco. Introduced at the beginning of the sixties, they were amongst the most robust & reliable in this power range. Proof if needed, many are still in use today in revenue service. ScotRail used them as "top & tail" on their premier services such as Glasgow to Aberdeen. ScotRail, having seen the improved timings & reliability in England by using multiple units, decided to use the one loco that they had plenty of, the class 37, which were in charge of virtually all of Scotland's northern services. By putting a 37 at either end of their crack express services, the improvement in timing, reliability was legendary. So for nearly twenty years, the Scots had these vintage locos in charge of their principle services. I used them often. It saved time at the termini as the locos stayed put, not needed shunting to the other end of the train. I shall do my best to see this sight at Coventry either coming or going. I do wish all well. In ScotRail livery. Note the Scotty dog. The Scotty dog motif changed size over the years. Just to whet our appetites, hopefully.

Hi all I do hope that our lady members & readers don't feel abandonned because of our railway topics. Listening to a Radio 4 Extra programme last evening (available for listening for nearly a month), I learnt that the first officially recorded train-spotter was a girl called Fanny Johnson. Quote: "The person who was recording locomotive numbers as they passed a station in London, was not a man clad in an anorak, but a teenage girl named Fanny Johnson. The 14-year-old's notebook about Great Western locos passing Westbourne Park station in 1861, is referenced in a 1935 article in the GWR magazine, and is the earliest evidence found to date of trainspotting, the collecting of locomotive numbers". So, please Helen, get your notebook & pencil out.

[Anorak] The GWR Broad Gauge Engines only had names (no numbers) until 1865. The first numbered engines into Paddington were when the standard gauge rail was added in August 1861 so "numbered" engines would have been a novelty. [/Anorak] Peter.

Kenilworth Station's opening delay down to county council, rail regulator confirms (Kenilworth News). They are waiting for paperwork from Warwickshire Council which was sent today. The station will not open before Easter (1st April). RealTime Trains currently has the "Unadvertised Passenger Service" starting on Monday 9th April, but that can easily change. Peter.

Another Class 37 is scheduled through Coventry tomorrow (24th March) at 09.03, tnt with a Class 47 on 'The Sussex Salopian' Railtour (details). The railtour leaves Lancashire at 04.29 and heads to London where a Class 33 replaces the Class 37 for the onward journey to Bognor Regis. After a break of just over an hour, those locos will take it on its return journey as far as Banbury, where the Class 37 is restored to the train. It is due through Coventry again at 20.40, en route to Crewe via Shrewsbury. After an overnight stop in Crewe, it heads back to Carnforth, arriving 15.05 on Sunday! Phew!

Hi all. First post as I am a newbie to this great forum. Born in Cov, at Walsgrave Hospital, lived in Tile Hill and Lower Stoke, off the London rd (Seagrave Rd) My main interest is Coventry's forgotten railways of which there were quite a few, i.e. Foleshill, Dunlop railways and the loop line, which was close to me at Gosford Green. I am looking for photos of these lines but in particular at Bell Green rail sidings and a railway crossing at Red Lane which was used at the Ordnance works - few photos can be found, so it seems. I have seen the Cov and Warks rail site and the Derby Sulzers site which is fine but I was looking for stuff around the 1960/70s and 80s. Do any members have any photos of these lines which are now gone? It would be great to see them, as I am trying to build up a picture of the railways in Cov before I left in 1977. Regards and happy Easter to you all.

Hello & welcome Mark Let's hope for a response to your query. I will add a question sign to your post so as to hi-lite it. Best wishes.