Better Business with Britain
Chiltern Railways, which runs the rail connection from Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street stations to London Marylebone has announched a GBP 230 million investment to upgrade the line from Birmingham, Warwick and Leamington Spa to London Marylebone.
In an ambitious drive to get motorists onto trains, the Chiltern Railways route will be upgraded- resulting in faster trains and reduced journey times. Average journey times will fall by 20%, including from the M40 park and ride hub at Warwick Parkway (J15) and the town centre station at Leamington Spa.
The West Midlands will get a second main line connection to London to rival the West Couast route from Birmingham New Street station to London Euston via Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre, Coventry and Rugby. The average train journey times from Birmingham to London Marylebone will be reduced by over 20% from February 2011.
Over 80 kilometres of track will be upgraded to 160 kph running, with 0.9km of new track built to enable a new line to Oxford connecting to the existing lines at Bicester.
Martin Williams, managing director of European Business Solutions, said “This investment will bring significant benefits to us and to our clients. The stations at Warwick Parkway and Leamington Spa are just five minutes from our offices and this will be very good for us, making daily travel to and from London even easier. Travel times for us to and from central London will be improved to just over one hour. With up to four trains per hour in the peak periods this is a fantastic service improvement.”
The project will be delivered in stages, with the main line journey time improvements being in service by February 2011. The new line to Oxford is expected to open by 2013.