Railways around Coventry

Hi & thank you Ron for that.

Is it correct that the "dog box" won't be stopping at Coventry Arena on match days?

I've not heard of any such plan. That would be self-defeating. Having said that, such a move wouldn't surprise me in this day and age. The reason the train frequency cannot double at the moment to the planned two trains an hour is a shortage of diesel units. However, they are only fully committed elsewhere in the Centro/Midlands operating area Monday to Friday until the end of the evening peak. Strengthening the trains on Saturdays and Sundays - the main match days for both Rugby and Football - should not be a problem. Also, I understand there are also outline agreements in place to operate shuttles from/to Coventry (in addition to the timetabled Nuneaton service) for key events. The planned start dates for these are a little unclear as the present track and signalling arrangements are not 'ideal' (my word) for such an operation. As I mentioned in an earlier post, hopefully these long-planned-plans (ie - they are not new!!) will not be scuppered by the current review into Network Rail spending. A purely personal comment on this entire situation to do with the overly-drawn out saga of the building at the 'Ricoh' - had Coventry been in the south-east and not away from it, the building of the station along with the arena and the shopping centre would have been approved and constructed as one complete project right from the off. The station would have not only proved itself as being of benefit to the community as a whole in the meantime, but clearly would have been available for use for the Olympic football played at the Ricoh in 2012. Had the station been available then, I can all-but GUARANTEE that the stock would have been 'found' to operate the rail shuttle to and from Coventry. Instead, visitors had to endure a slow bus journey between two locations linked by rail, one of which having a rail service that passed through but was unable to stop. Buses did have the advantage though of being able to pick up additional passengers in the City centre, which of course in turn had the disadvantage of making the journey for those who joined at the rail station longer and slower.

Ron - these are the recent conversations I've been following elsewhere The National Rail website, in London Midland's section for timetable changes, says: "New stations open at Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park on the Coventry-Nuneaton line during the validity of the timetable (expected to be Sunday 21st June). All services between Coventry and Nuneaton call additionally at these new stations thereafter with minor changes to Coventry and Nuneaton departure times from the start of the timetable to accommodate the extended overall journey time." A new station joins the network on the 14th August when Bermuda Park station on the south side of Nuneaton joins the network - finally! No news of the other new station on the line opening - Arena Park. Until phase 2 is completed (who knows when) only the hourly dogbox shuttle will stop there. I was at the site of Bermuda Park on Sunday (2nd August). It is mostly done apart from the approaches to the platforms from ground level and some tidying up. A train passed by and slowed for the station then picked up the pace. I think I'm inclined to believe the 14th August date but certainly no later than the beginning of September it should be ready as I can't think much more needs to be done, likewise with Coventry Arena station. Yes some of the drivers are conducting 'test stops' in the extra four minutes 'gained' whilst not stopping at the Ricoh & Bermuda. Local rag now says September opening for both stations. Has any definite official opening date yet been announced for:- Bermuda Park Coventry Arena 17th August if the handover meeting goes/went well. Yet another delay it seems, no date confirmed yet! Are London Midland and the other relevant authorities so useless they cannot keep to date for once? This is silly. I hope they don't start gathering dust or worse yet, have the local oiks trash the stations before anyone has used it! I understand that they are planning to open them together in September. To make matters worse the dogbox will not stop at the Coventry arena on match days. Completely logical, but the local press will have a field day. That does not say much for the numbers expected on match days at the Coventry arena. More likely to avoid the awkward situation of floods of complaints due to lack of capacity and the logistics involved for providing additional carriages and paths for extra services Can totally understand why they wouldn't stop at the Arena on Matchday! Sounds like Carnage with a capital C if they did! But surely LM has got to have at least a handful of units spare at the weekends? Or are the Snow Hill and Rugeley / Shrewsbury services that busy now? Whats the point of building the station if it is not going to be used to serve the Coventry Arena when it is at its busiest - on match days and event days. Because it is a third party funded project, if they didn't spend the money on it now they would never have been built. The rolling stock issue was have been known about at the start as would have told Coventry council. You can't do specials to the Arena anyway as they need the second phase to be built with the new bay platform. This is not new news, this has all been known about for years. Kenilworth will be in the same boat.

Getting directly to the point, I'm afraid I wince when I read comments such as those you have cut and pasted above. I am aware of the Forum(s) you have taken them from and the majority who post on those forums neither work in the rail industry, in [our] local councils or are involved in the station construction projects themselves. They are in the main rail enthusiasts, not that there is anything wrong with that. Unfortunately too many of them act on rumour, not on fact. Hearsay rules in such environments - someone always 'knows' as they've been told by someone else who does....... Out the comments above, about the only one with any validity is that both stations are to open in September. As I posted back in May, they will 'open' on the same date, along with the extended platform at Bedworth. One station cannot open before the other as they are being constructed as one project and can only be signed off as one project - together. The platform extensions at Bedworth have been completed but should still be taped off. Once all three projects have been completed, all three will be inspected and if all is okay, all three will be signed off for public use, together. An interesting point is that NO opening date has ever been stated for the opening of the new stations. A target date of 'May 2015' is all that was ever given. It was therefore assumed that this would be the 'timetable change' date. Indeed the 'Working Time Tables' were amended to show the trains calling at both stations, but these were never made public. I was aware of issues as early as last October which made the target date of May 2015 look dodgy. Lack of progress at the Arena was apparent for all to see regularly during the winter. As I have posted previously, these were officially attributed to 'design issues'. I could go into greater detail but I feel it wouldn't be right for me to do so, nor is this forum the right place for me to do so. How anybody could say that Bermuda would open before the 'Ricoh' (which I will no doubt continue to call it, rather than 'Coventry Arena'!) is ridiculous beyond belief. Anybody with any real knowledge of the project knew that Bermuda Park was running WEEKS behind the Ricoh. How was Bermuda viewed on August 2nd? 'It is mostly done apart from the approaches to the platforms from ground level and some tidying up'. Err, I don't think so !! The electrics still hadn't gone in then. No lighting. No CCTV. No ticket machines. No information point. The retaining walls were still in need of completion on the 2nd. The footpath under the line STILL has to be properly constructed as I type. The roadway within the industrial estate still has to be reconstructed, the limited car parking being new bays constructed alongside the station, thus making the access road into Bermuda industrial estate wider at this point. Only after all this has been done can the site be 'tidied up'. And this was to be ready for 14th August??? Never. Nor was it ever expected to be...... There was no handover meeting ever planned for 17th August. There can be no handover until all construction has been completed, inspected and signed off 'for public use'. Until then, no handover. London Midland have absolutely no involvement in the construction projects. Nor have they ever set any dates. London Midland is merely the franchised TOC (Train Operating Company), who must operate to the requirements of their franchise. When the terms of their franchise change, London Midland must operate to the revised terms of that franchise. No offence is meant in any way to any person with this posting. What I am emphasizing with the above is that the railway scene thrives on rumour, and much of that rumour is sheer fantasy. That fantasy might have started out as a small piece of factual information but like Chinese whispers it grows and changes along the way.... As I mentioned a few days ago, the official opening date STILL has to be set. Work currently continues at both stations. Both stations will open on the same date, sometime in September. Stock is available for strengthened trains on Saturdays and Sundays. In the meantime, the Working Time Table continues to be altered on a week by week basis. No doubt once the official opening date is known, it will be announced to us all by the Coventry Telegraph, or the websites of Coventry, Nuneaton, Warwickshire councils. Ooops sorry, forgot the final line - until such time as an official announcement is made regarding the opening date, anything heard is rumour, and nothing else. I am aware of a target date for the opening, but as it is not YET official information I am not prepared to place it into the public domain.

No offence taken, Ron - in fact, very, very grateful for this concise report on what the real situation is

Coverntry City and Wasps fans told not to use new Ricoh railway station

You are right, Philip. Privatisation has been carried out on many public service contracts in the name of making savings. It hardly ever works that way for a number of reasons. Councils have sold off services to the highest bidders without any safeguards so the contractors are always chipping in with extras for mundane bits and pieces. The 'client side' is often inexperienced, incompetent or worse. Sometimes they don't police the contracts at all. I spent about 3 years on contract compliance for councils in the area and the abuse of these contracts on both sides was quite shocking. As for the farce with the Arena railway station, I absolutely despair. I was at a football match in Germany last Friday night and the attendance was 56000, over 5 times what City get. Just about everyone arrived by public transport and after the match there were plenty of trains (and 10 platforms) to get them all back into the city as quickly and efficiently as possible. We are a Mickey Mouse nation when it comes to this sort of infrastructure.

This is old news, I read years ago that they wouldn't use the Ricoh station for match days - I think someone on another forum I frequent and moan on () worked in transport and mentioned it once. Maybe when the future electrification happens it might be better, but until then it's a station that's probably not much use to anyone, and don't mention the shops, as most people drive to them, it's hardly convenient to use trains for it. They would have been better reinstating the stations in Foleshill, in my opinion, so people could use it for the city centre or working at Friargate, or building a tram link between Coventry and Nuneaton.

Hi all Just taking a step back to look at this issue in reality. Unless someone is going to fund a specific operation, in this case either the Rugby club, CCC or whoever, providing standby railway vehicles that are only used once in a while is very expensive. When not in use, they have to be stored, cleaned & maintained. The days of hidden sidings full of ancient coaching stock, only brought out into use during the holiday periods is long gone. Most railway companies, have their trains in sets, a bit like a model railway & most are self propelled. That kind of vehicle cannot be left for days on end in a siding. Imagine my car left for days on end not in use. I don't drive my car much, most of you know that, but I still pick my time to run it, not just start the engine up. With such low mileage, the cost of my car per mile is huge. That is multiplied times over for a business that has to have its capital deployed as much as possible. Birmingham International station was part subsidized by BCC, when built, along with the aviation authority, just as the special facilities in London, like Earls Court were & are. Unlike London trains, at present only a trickle of passengers use the Coventry to Nuneaton line, but if numbers increase as the result of the new stations, longer & more adequate train lengths might become economically viable in the future. Let's hope so.

It's not that many years ago that Central Trains and London Midland were running Turbostars on the line!

Hmm - well perhaps this 'someone' could provide us all (generous person that I am....) with this weeks winning lottery numbers... this is neither old news, nor is it accurate. This must go down as the most awful piece of PR involving the Ricoh for.. err, not that long when we consider the happenings of the last few years.. It is STILL being said that trains will not be stopping at Coventry Arena station on match days, inferring that services will not be stopping at all. This has never been true, nor is it true now. Midland Red cut and posted a one-liner from a rail forum earlier this month along these lines, to which I responded. I was aware of the concerns raised previously by London Midland staff over overcrowding at the station and that meetings were still to take place involving all parties concerned. You don't need to be Einstein to work out that potentially thousands of people will not fit into a one car 153 unit with a capacity of around 75 seats, known affectionately as the 'dogbox'. The one thing that WAS known [only a couple of] years ago was that the basic branch shuttle would be operated by a 153. I can predict that in 2016 that will continue to be the case, as that is what London Midland are required to provide under the terms of their franchise. The plan to upgrade the Coventry to Nuneaton branch was initially conceived years ago, both for the local passenger service and the ever increasing numbers of heavy freight trains that regularly use the branch. As with all such schemes, the approval and subsequent 'delivery' has been delayed a number of times. I mentioned in a previous post, had we been in the South East, I felt pretty certain this whole situation would never have developed, but it has and we're currently stuck with it...... We are stuck with London Midland continuing to operate a 153 on the shuttle, as that is what is required under the franchise. Officially there are no other diesel units CURRENTLY available, and that is the 'line' that London Midland are sticking to. This shortage of units is also preventing the service frequency increasing to half-hourly, however platform 5 at Coventry is then required to ensure that the increased service can operate without impacting on the rest of the services operating through Coventry. Platform 5 is included in Phase 2 of the improvement plan, currently planned for 2016/17, subject to any cutbacks in the interim by the Government. We are also stuck with the current track layout on the branch, along with the current signalling. This does not allow a shuttle operation to run efficiently. Under the current layout, a train operating a shuttle from Coventry would have to continue empty from the Arena to Hawkesbury Lane to cross over before returning to Coventry. Under Phase 2, a new crossover will be installed to enable a train from Coventry to terminate at the much longer, Coventry bound platform, the driver changing ends whilst the train empties.... The original plan included a third platform on the ProLogis (former Coventry/Keresley Colliery) branch in the car park constructed on the site of Three Spires marshalling yard, at which trains from the Coventry direction could terminate, before returning immediately to Coventry after unloading/loading. Operationally this would have been superb, but was discounted on cost grounds. Despite statements being made, there are spare units available to strengthen services on the branch on match day evenings and Saturdays and Sundays. The units operate from and to Tyseley depot in Birmingham at the beginning and the end of each days service. Where there's a will, there's a way.... It seems that many have interpreted this seemingly daft situation as that trains will not be stopping [at all] at Coventry Arena station on match days. This is incorrect - in order to prevent a crush AFTER a football/rugby match or concert with potentially only 75 seats available on the next service in each direction (unless of course the train is strengthened), only these will not be stopping at the station; the service itself will still run between Coventry and Nuneaton and vv, calling at the other stations on the branch. With an hourly service, this could mean a wait of up to 2 hours for a train, hence the advice not to plan on using the train service.... No doubt things will change again - for better or worse - once the station actually opens. Further changes will happen when - and if - the line is electrified. It was planned to be wired (logical really) back in the 1960's electrification scheme. Although some infrastructure work was done on the branch to accept the overhead wires, the plan was cancelled on cost grounds. The branch now forms part of the planned 'Electric Spine', which will allow the heavy container trains from Scotland and the north-west of England to Southampton docks to be electric hauled. This plan specifically mentions the Nuneaton to Coventry (and onwards to Leamington which will also be wired under this plan) service as being operated by electric units. There is nothing to prevent charter trains from using the new station, as long as safety guidelines for unstaffed stations are adhered to. As far are 'past' services are concerned, the shuttle is the remnant of what was in the 1990's, an ultra-successful Regional Railways hourly service between the university cities of Coventry and Nottingham. This involved a reversal at Nuneaton. Busy almost every train, it was wedged especially on Fridays and Sundays with students travelling from and to home. Here a service from Coventry to Nottingham is about to pass under Lockhurst Lane bridge; note the Courtaulds chimney in the background... After privatisation, the franchise was held by Central Trains, who along with Midland Mainline were part of the National Express group. They merged many services in order to get greater efficiency out of their trains and consequently Midland Mainline (not London Midland) 170 Turbostars regularly operated to Coventry, along with those of Central. Consequently, Coventry had two services per day terminating at Sheffield and one at Worksop. Here's a poor image of a Midland Mainline Turbostar about to depart to Worksop. Changes to the franchise meant that the Coventry to Nuneaton branch no longer fitted logically into any other service. It was further damaged by the West Coast main line upgrade at Nuneaton, which meant that trains from Coventry could no longer access the Leicester line without 'reversing' out of Nuneaton station towards Abbey Junction. Franchise holder Central Trains took advantage of this now potentially loss making stand-alone service between Coventry and Nuneaton only by asking the ORR for approval to run a bus service instead whilst it trained its staff to operate other services (namely the Silverlink 321s!!).Incredibly this was approved for 18 months, during which time the large numbers of regular passengers had found alternative ways to travel. Support for the service since that time has ebbed and flowed - sometimes passenger carryings are light to say the least. Other times the dogbox is wedged. Fingers crossed improved loadings will see the capacity provided on the shuttle increase before the end of this current franchise.

Yes, I heard some years ago that it was unlikely they'd want to use the Ricoh Station for Arena users due to H&S issues. It was so long ago I can't even remember who or where I saw it or read it, but the person on the forum moved away from Coventry years ago.

Thanks for that Ron, it had completely slipped my memory.

The train approaching platform 1 is the delayed local service calling at all stations to Birmingham New Street