Railways around Coventry

Hi Peter, There will always be winners & losers in re-routing or even altering the road access, & on a dry day like Saturday, for me it was a pleasant ten minute walk. I suppose part of my gripe is the politics of getting folks out of their cars in aid of the carbon footprint, but not providing a suitable alternative for ease of access. At least the lady in my next picture had a shopping trolley, as it would not be so convenient for anyone disabled.

Hi Philip, Unfortunately an hourly rail service will have little attraction to most motorists. Nobody wants to finish their shopping/meeting and find they have a 55 minute wait. In the Midlands only the Cross-City line and Metro have turn up and go frequencies. Coventry and Wolverhampton to Birmingham (but not the local stations) just about manages it. I could drive to Birmingham in the 40 minutes I have had to wait at Canley. Peter.

Hi Peter, I had an office in the centre of Birmingham for many years, the only time I was late was when I used my car. It's so long ago, when Coventry first joined the West Midlands conurbation, the go anywhere in the West Midlands bus ticket was 75p. I well remember the expression on the face of the company cashier when I presented my ticket with my expense claim, when others' expense claims were several pounds. I could travel on the train with it, but was restricted to the local services only, not the intercity trains. That was soon relaxed as there were no local services on Sunday afternoons back then. My Pam still has cancer, so I am not as free to be out & about like I once was, so I use what opportunities arise. I am meeting my chum this morning all being well at the No1 coffee lounge, not sure where we go to after that - Coffee#1 Coventry. Hope you have a good day. I love us sharing banter, with the experiences that we have. One lump or two? I'm zero sugar now.

Hi Phil, They (Council or Network Rail) are installing new kerbing on the approach to Coundon Road Level Crossing. It looks hopeful that the original spear-top fencing will be re-installed. Several of the uprights remain in place. Peter. ps I am free most Tuesdays. PM me if you want to meet up for coffee (milk, no sugar).

That must have been a very long time ago. Our experience was very different and the poor rail service between Coventry and Birmingham was a major reason for us moving out of Coventry in the mid 90s. We lived in the centre of Coventry and my wife worked in the centre of Birmingham, so commuting should have been easy. I worked in Sutton Coldfield and would drop her at Coventry Station every morning. However, the service was so unreliable that she would often arrive an hour and a half after I dropped her. The homeward journey was just as bad. The refunds on her season ticket were a monthly admission of shame. I tried dropping her in Sutton at Wylde Green station near my office but it was still hopeless. Eventually we sold up and moved to Sutton, and became a two car family. She still drives into Birmingham every day, even though the Cross City line has improved, as we don't live near a station. On a different tack, I do use my senior travel pass on local trains and in fact I'm going to Coventry tomorrow with it. However, it is frustrating that you can use it on trains all over the West Midlands but not to get to Leamington, Kenilworth, Rugby or Nuneaton. It would be great if it extended to Warwickshire too.

Hello MisterD-Di My Birmingham commuting time started in 1973, usually just one day a week, more if the company had high volume foreign currency business. There were disruptions from time to time, rail strikes were a nuisance, but on such occasions I used the bus, Midland Red 159, even if it meant starting out from home around six am. What was a pain was when I had to swap stations at Wolverhampton, to low level when I was visiting Wrekin Construction. That was unreliable. The issue of no free access to Warwickshire county locations is not only a frustration for us living in the West Midlands, it's a source of bad feelings for folk living in Warwickshire, who have no free rail access whatsoever. A postcode lottery. Nice hearing from you.

Mr D-Di, I envy you having such a pass - because I'm a bit younger than you, I have to wait a long time for mine! I think the problem you have stems from the fact that Warwickshire used to encompass Coventry, Solihull and a lot of Birmingham. Then in the early 70s, the powers that be invented this new "county" of West Midlands, which is quite distinct from Warwickshire, in which I live. Long live the them and us. I have a senior railcard of course, which gets me a third off all fares. But it's still much more expensive by train from Leamington to Brum than it is from Cov. So I tend to go from Tile Hill or Canley.

Good to hear of the possible re-use Peter. This section at the exit of the underpass was amazingly bent by a growing tree which they have now disposed of! Google Map'ed

Hi all With Pam so remarkably well, she despatched me this week with an East Midlands seven day rover. That is fab & I will post a few pics later, but the issue that I want to tell you about, is that except for the suicide disruption on Thursday morning, I have got about more easily than ever. Old habits don't stop even with the most up-to-date information. Coming back from Peterborough today, a three coach train, I sat in comfort with my coffee, in a half empty middle coach. As it was raining as we reached Nuneaton, I moved to the last coach so as to alight by the steps to platform 1. The last coach was like sardines, folks sitting on luggage. Is it the braindrain? No joke. At Peterborough, the digital display showed the train loading graph, which is why I chose the middle coach. We Might be the digital age, but that doesn't appear to help our minds. Even the ticket lady told them that the front coach was empty, but it made no difference. Over the years I have on occasions witnessed packed trains, from one end to the other, but in five days of roving this week, so far, not once have I struggled to find a seat of my liking.

A few picture postcards from Phily. The overcrowded packed train from Peterborough. I thought that I was going to Surbiton, hey! Talk about luxury! A hotel at 100mph. All of this for a seven day go anywhere ticket, that cost me £76, where I could reach Doncaster, Sheffield, Peterborough, Skegness, Bedford, Bletchley, Tamworth & of course Coventry down to Milton Keynes. Having a lovely time, wish you were here.

So do I

Philip, one of these days they will be sending out a search party for you! How does a monorail grab you? There he goes, everybody wave folks. Nice to see you enjoying yourself anyway.

Sad to report that the spear top fencing at Coundon Road Crossing has gone and been replaced with a tubular construction. I hope the old fencing found a good home. It seems an odd time to do the work when the crossing is being considered for closure. Peter.

Disused station buildings to be brought back to life (Rail Advent) "The pilot stations are: Bromsgrove; Cannock; Rugeley Town and Rugeley Trent Valley; Kenilworth; Nuneaton; Dudley Port and Coseley; Droitwich Spa; Kidderminster; Oakengates and Wellington; Smethwick Galton Bridge and Smethwick Rolfe Street; Selly Oak; Stratford-upon-Avon and Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway; Hall Green; Bournville; Marston Green and Tile Hill; Tame Bridge Parkway; Stechford." An odd choice of "Disused stations". Kenilworth is new and Kidderminster is still being build (old station just demolished). The main idea is to lease out part of the stations as coffee shops and convenience stores. Peter.

Peter. I think the Coundon Road closure is just a campaign promise. I don't see it will happen with the current surrounding road network. It's just too busy around there at rush hours. I go over there most days on the Bablake school run so will try to get a picture to share of the new barriers. I should imagine the old railings have gone to someone's back garden