140 extra trains a week for Worcester stations under Midlands Rail Hub plans

Worcester MP, Tom Collins, joined Midlands Connect and rail chiefs to hear how the Midlands Rail Hub could ‘deliver a massive transport boost for the city’.

As part of the Midlands Rail Hub, the Worcester area would see two extra trains every hour, in each direction – one from Worcester Foregate Street to Birmingham, and the other from Worcestershire Parkway to Birmingham.

Across these two routes, there would be nearly 140 extra trains per week for residents, businesses and commuters, providing around 4 million extra seats per year.

At the meeting, Midlands Connect and Tom Collins MP were also joined by Network Rail, West Midlands Rail Executive and Dr Scott Andrews, Vice President of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce and Head of the University of Worcester’s Business School.

Services will also improve to Worcestershire Parkway as part of the Midlands Rail Hub project.

The project will also deliver a jobs boost, more than 12,750 roles are expected to result from the Midlands Rail Hub programme, with construction expected to run from 2025 to 2033. 

Last year, the previous Government committed to ‘full’ delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub, and in February this year, an additional £123m was allocated towards the project, to progress the detailed engineering designs.

Over the last few weeks, a series of Labour politicians like Dave Robertson MP from Lichfield, Laurence Turner MP from Birmingham Northfield, Al Carns MP for Selly Oak, Paulette Hamilton MP from Erdington and Preet Kaur Gill MP at University, have all backed the improvements the Midlands Rail Hub will deliver to their constituencies.

Tom Collins, MP for Worcester, said:

“Getting Worcester's transport working and making it easy for people to travel around the country are really important to me - and rail is absolutely central to getting this right. It was really good to welcome the Midlands Connect team to Worcester and celebrate our improved services. There's still much more to do and I'm working to further develop our rail connections within the city and down to Oxford and London”.

Dr Scott Andrews, Vice President of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce and Head of the University of Worcester’s Business School stated: 

"This represents exciting opportunities for businesses across the region looking to attract and retain talent as well as providing greater access for more than 10,000 students who travel to the City each week."

Paul Butters, Director of Communications at Midlands Connect, said:

“It was great to meet Tom, brief him on the plans and explain how the Midlands Rail Hub could deliver a massive transport boost for the city. Delivering faster and more frequent trains to Worcester would make a massive difference and we are working hard to deliver it.

“I look forward to working with Tom in the months and years ahead to deliver this vital scheme for the region."