West Midlands

Improvements being made in West Midlands

More trains

Two extra trains every weekday evening from London to the Trent Valley will provide 2,300 more seats each week
900 extra seats a week will be provided on trains to Birmingham on Sunday mornings from Rugby, Lichfield and other towns plus new Sunday services from Longbridge, Dorridge and Whitlocks End
An extra daily return service between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, will provide 3,400 more seats every week

A better experience

Passengers will benefit from free Wi-Fi on long-distance London Northwestern services between London Euston, Birmingham, Crewe and Liverpool
Chiltern Railways passengers are benefiting from a Wi-Fi upgrade including continuous wifi connection, even in tunnels and an improved wifi service that seamlessly connects with the on-train wifi
CCTV on suburban trains in Birmingham is helping improve security
Station staff at local stations will be equipped with tablet computers to improve information and help for customers

Faster and more reliable journeys

Network Rail is spending £25million modernising signalling equipment between Shrewsbury and Crewe to give passengers a safer, more reliable and punctual rail service
Electrification of the railway between Walsall and Rugeley will improve journeys, with better connections to services on the West Coast mainline and to Birmingham
Suburban services are being improved with electrification of the line between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove and new signals between Barnt Green and Cheltenham

Improving stations

The £750million transformation of Birmingham New Street has given the city a modern, 21st century station, helping to boost regional regeneration
New and upgraded ticket machines at selected stations, with new ‘click and collect’ capability and contactless payment options
More than 400 extra car park spaces are being provided at Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Tamworth stations
A new station is planned for Kenilworth
New stations recently opened at Bromsgrove, Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park

We are all backing the plan

Case studies

Birmingham New Street station is an astonishingly three and a half times larger than before, allowing more than 170,000 passengers to pass through each day with ease.
Accessibility improvements include 15 new lifts, 36 new escalators and better pedestrian links.
A substantial new shopping centre and John Lewis store is creating 1,000 new jobs.

Improvements will be made all the way from London St Pancras to Sheffield.
The upgrade of the Midland Main Line will bring faster, greener, more reliable journeys.
A new fleet of bi-mode trains will also mean more seats.
Electrification of the MML north of Bedford to Kettering and Corby is scheduled to be completed by December 2019.

National College for High Speed Rail is dedicated to the future of the UK’s railway industry
Courses will provide specialist vocational training for the next generation of High Speed 2 (HS2) engineers
HS2 will employ over 25,000 people during construction of phases One and Two and will create 2,000 apprenticeships
8,700 graduate-level engineers are needed per year by rail businesses over the next 10 years
Training colleges based in Birmingham and Doncaster

What does the plan mean for your area?