BOB HARTWRIGHT makes the case for improved rail services for the city
Worcester is probably the UK’s only city with a population in excess of 100,000 that doesn’t enjoy main line connectivity, and its secondary status on the periphery of the primary rail network has a negative impact on the local economy. Journeys from Worcester to neighbouring towns and cities such as Birmingham, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Hereford are fragmented, the frequency and journey times fail to meet rail passengers’ aspirations and demand for rail travel is artificially suppressed.
HISTORY
The main line between Bristol and Birmingham was constructed to link the factories of Birmingham to Bristol and its docks as well as to operate passenger services. The section between Cheltenham and Bromsgrove was built by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway Company (B&GR) and completed on 24 June 1840. As Worcester was relatively well-served at that time for the movement of goods via the river Severn and Worcester to Birmingham canal, there was a degree of apathy towards the railway and the line now known as the cross-country route was built bypassing Worcester by some four miles to the east of the city centre.
Rail services throug…
