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Worcestershire Parkway is a split-level railway station where the
Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jura ...
and Cross Country lines cross near
Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
,
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, England. It opened on 23 February 2020.


Purpose

The
Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
from
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
to
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and the
South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
passes close to the east of
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
; however there were no nearby stations on this line, and the CrossCountry trains passed through
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
without stopping.
Worcestershire County Council Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. The most recent elections to it were in 2021. Worcestershire County Council has its headquarters at County Hall in Worcester, w ...
therefore sought for many years to have a station on this line built near Worcester. The station is positioned a mile outside Worcester near the village of
Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
, at the point where the Cross Country line passes under the
Cotswold Line The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England. History Early years The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. ...
from Worcester to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. It has two low-level platforms on the former, and one high-level platform on the latter (as it is single-track at this point), allowing interchange between the two lines. It is also close to Junction 7 on the M5, allowing Worcestershire residents to use the station as a 500-car park and ride to major cities, as well as into Worcester's Foregate Street and
Shrub Hill Worcester Shrub Hill railway station is one of two railway stations serving the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England. It is managed by West Midlands Trains, operating here under the West Midlands Railway brand, and it is also served by ...
stations, which is expected to relieve traffic and parking problems in Worcester itself. Part of the purpose for the stations development is that Worcestershire Parkway will be the focus of strategic development up to 2041. The strategic growth area extends to approximately 1,130 hectares (2790 acres) and is bounded by the M5, A44, the North Cotswold and Birmingham to Bristol mainline railway and Stoulton to the east. It is expected that development around Worcestershire Parkway will deliver up to 10,000 new homes; 50 hectares (123 acres) of employment sites; a new town centre; two secondary schools and seven primary schools and other supporting infrastructure. Health and other community facilities, including for sport and recreation will also be provided. The area will also benefit from the delivery of in excess of 40% green infrastructure which will include a community park and other smaller neighbourhood parks that will contain several LAPs, LEAPs and NEAPs. Several neighbourhoods will be planned throughout the site which will be linked to the social and community facilities by a network of safe and convenient pedestrian and cycle paths. The ‘Living Locally’ concept will also be applied which means that everyone will be able to meet their daily needs within a walkable catchment of 20 minutes.


Development

An outline business case was developed by
Laing Rail Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with th ...
in March 2006, which concluded in favour of the development of Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange.
Worcestershire County Council Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. The most recent elections to it were in 2021. Worcestershire County Council has its headquarters at County Hall in Worcester, w ...
set aside £3{{nbspmillion for
park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
facilities at the station in 2007. In October 2008 an e-petition was set up on the No 10 website calling for a Worcestershire Parkway. The Third Worcestershire Local Transport Plan (LTP3) cited Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange as the top transport priority for Worcestershire. It was also listed in the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy as a Sub Regional Priority, and featured in Policy T6 - Strategic Park and Ride. A revised business case was submitted to the Department for Transport's (DfT) Rail Office, who gave their formal support to the project in 2012. In July 2014, the station was given funding as part of a government infrastructure fund distributed to
local enterprise partnership In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are voluntary partnerships between Local government in England, local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local econom ...
s.


Concerns

Concerns were raised that the construction of Worcestershire Parkway would lead to reduced services at Worcester Foregate Street. However, this was rejected in 2014 by the deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council, Councillor Simon Geraghty, who said, "There has been no risk identified by Network Rail to existing railway stations."


Construction

Artist impressions were released in February 2015 and the council said that a planning application had been submitted, with a decision due to have been made during the summer of 2015. The plan was for work to commence by the spring of 2016 and the station was on track to open in summer 2017.{{cite news, last1=Edwards, first1=Tom, title=Worcestershire Parkway rail station plans submitted, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-31289143/, access-date=13 July 2014, work=
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, date=11 July 2014, archive-date=9 February 2015, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209143516/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-31289143, url-status=live
In February 2015, the council advertised for contractors for the construction of the railway station to include platforms, station building, passenger footbridge and lifts with a commencement date of late September 2015 with completion in May 2017. On 25 August 2015 planning permission was granted, with work expected to start in 2016. The cost of the scheme was estimated at £22{{nbspmillion. A potential legal battle between Worcester County Council and Norton Parkway Developments, who owned the land, started in 2016. Norton Parkway Developments refused to hand over the land to the council as they felt that they were in a position to complete the development themselves. In January 2017, WCC's plans for Worcestershire Parkway were approved by the DfT. In February 2017, clearance work on the site began, and Worcestershire County Council appointed Buckingham Group Contracting as the developer as part of a design and build deal. Construction work finally began in early 2018, with a planned opening date in 2019. In November 2019, it was announced that the station would open on 15 December 2019. This was later pushed back to an unspecified time "early in the New Year."{{Cite web, url=https://www.gwr.com/about-us/modernising-gwr/worcestershire-parkway, title=Worcestershire Parkway {{! Great Western Railway, website=www.gwr.com, access-date=7 December 2019, archive-date=7 December 2019, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207215239/https://www.gwr.com/about-us/modernising-gwr/worcestershire-parkway, url-status=live In January 2020, it was announced that the station would be further delayed but opening was expected 'well before' the May timetable change.{{cite news , last = Barnett , first = Christian , title = Trains will be calling at Worcestershire Parkway as soon as it opens, council promises , newspaper = Malvern Gazette , date = 31 January 2020 , url = https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/regional/18201138.trains-will-calling-worcestershire-parkway-soon-opens-council-promises/ , access-date = 2 February 2020 , archive-date = 2 February 2020 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200202184234/https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/regional/18201138.trains-will-calling-worcestershire-parkway-soon-opens-council-promises/ , url-status = live Phase 1 construction included the Cotswold Line, station building, interchange facilities, 300-space car park, road access and infrastructure for phase 2. This second phase included two new platforms on the Birmingham - Bristol Main Line, a footbridge between the phase 1 and 2 platforms, and an additional 200 car parking spaces.{{cite web , title=Worcestershire Parkway Station Worcestershire Local Transport Body Funding Application , url=http://www.business-central.co.uk/cms/pdf/2.%20Parkway%20WLTB%20Bid.pdf , access-date=14 July 2014 , publisher=Worcestershire County Council , date=May 2013 , pages=1, 2 , archive-date=15 July 2014 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715034519/http://www.business-central.co.uk/cms/pdf/2.%20Parkway%20WLTB%20Bid.pdf , url-status=live Worcestershire Parkway opened to the public on Sunday 23 February 2020. The first train to serve the new station was the 08:29 GWR service to London Paddington. At 9:57 the first train arrived from London Paddington. The first Cross Country service to serve the station was the 10:40 to Cardiff Central from Birmingham New Street.{{citation needed, date=February 2020


Services

The station is served by both Worcester - Oxford/London and all Nottingham - Cardiff trains. The aim is for trains to travel to London in 2 hours or less. Phase 3 of the station's introduction will schedule additional CrossCountry trains. Services at Worcestershire Parkway are operated by CrossCountry and
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. The current off-peak service at the station in trains per hour (tph) is: *Great Western Railway: ** 1 tph to
London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
via {{rws, Oxford ** 1 tph to {{stnlnk, Worcester Shrub Hill with some continuing to {{stnlnk, Worcester Foregate Street, {{stnlnk, Great Malvern and {{stnlnk, Hereford *CrossCountry: ** 1 tph to {{stnlnk, Cardiff Central via {{rws, Gloucester ** 1 tph to {{stnlnk, Nottingham via {{rws, Birmingham New Street {{s-rail-start, noclear=yes {{s-rail, title=National Rail {{rail line two to one, previous1={{stnlnk, Cheltenham Spa, previous2={{stnlnk, Ashchurch for Tewkesbury
limited service, route= CrossCountry
Cardiff – Nottingham, next={{stnlnk, University, Birmingham, col={{CrossCountry colour {{rail line, next={{rws, Pershore ''or'' {{rws, Evesham, previous={{rws, Worcester Shrub Hill, route=
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

Hereford – London Paddington, col={{FGW colour {{Future rail insert , text=Future services {{rail line two routes, previous={{stnlnk, Cheltenham Spa, next= Birmingham New
Street
, route1= CrossCountry
South West – North East and Scotland , col={{XC colour, route2= CrossCountry
Bristol – Manchester {{s-end


See also

{{Worcestershire Lines, collapse=yes *
List of railway stations in Worcestershire This is a list of railway stations in Worcestershire, one of the counties of the United Kingdom. It includes all railway stations in Worcestershire that form part of the British National Rail network that currently have timetabled train services ...
*
Worcester Foregate Street railway station Worcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860 in the centre of Worcester, England, is the smaller of the two stations serving the city, but more centrally located. The other station, Worcester Shrub Hill ...
— the city centre station *
Worcester Shrub Hill railway station Worcester Shrub Hill railway station is one of two railway stations serving the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England. It is managed by West Midlands Trains, operating here under the West Midlands Railway brand, and it is also served b ...
— the city interchange station *The
Cotswold Line The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England. History Early years The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. ...
*The
Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...


References

{{reflist


External links

{{Stn art lnk, WOP, WR74RD {{commons category-inline Railway stations in Worcestershire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2020 Railway stations opened by Network Rail Railway stations served by CrossCountry Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Buildings and structures in Worcester, England Transport in Worcester, England