The West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy sets out how WMRE expects to realise its ambition for “faster, more frequent, better-connecting and higher capacity rail services.” Proposals outlined in the document are forecast to add £325m a year to the regional economy by 2032, rising to £547m by 2047.
The strategy is divided into seven key components:
West Midlands Trains franchise quick wins (2018-2026): working with the West Midlands Railway franchise, which WMRE co-manages with the Department for Transport (DfT), to deliver improvements including cross-Birmingham connectivity, better Sunday and evening services, restoration of local passenger services on Birmingham’s Camp Hill line and the Walsall - Wolverhampton services, new stations, more train capacity and performance improvements
High frequency ‘6-4-2’ rail services: a minimum frequency of two trains per hour serving all stations in the WMRE area, rising to six trains per hour for the busiest stations
Midlands Rail Hub (2026-2032): making the case now for new services across the wider Midlands region maximising use of extra capacity delivered by the Midlands Rail Hub scheme, which aims to provide an additional 10 trains per hour across central Birmingham
High growth rail corridors (2018-2032): developing the corridors set to see the greatest economic and population growth up to 2032
High Speed 2 (2026 and 2033): active support for delivery of both phases of the Y-shaped High Speed 2 (HS2) network linking London with central and northern England, working with HS2 Ltd to maximise the capacity and new local and regional services using capacity released in the West Midlands
Radical change towards 2047: starting work in the short-term to identify infrastructure changes needed after the delivery of HS2 and the Midlands Rail Hub, and
Supporting rail freight development and growth: working with Network Rail and freight operators to plan for growth and maximise the use of network capability and capacity.
WMRE is inviting responses to the consultation via its website, with a closing date of November 19 for comments.
