A LONG-RUNNING campaign to add more trains stopping at Worcestershire Parkway took a leap forward this week with new services announced.
Last year, West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin met with senior managers at Cross Country Trains to encourage them to make more use of the station.
New services were added this week as part of the new national train timetable introduction. The station will now receive trains to connect the county to Edinburgh and Bristol.
Two extra Cross Country services an hour will connect into Birmingham, from Worcestershire Parkway station, thanks to the popularity of the service.
Dame Harriett said: “I lobbied hard for the construction of Worcestershire Parkway station and it is now performing well ahead of expectations, with extra car park capacity already being planned.
“Worcestershire Parkway is a county gem and as a regular train user, I know just how useful it is to have a convenient station linking to major cities up and down the land. I am glad to see this come to fruition.
“I am aware of other additional service stops under consideration and I hope to meet with the train operator leadership again soon to talk through this.”
The MP has extended a commitment to continue lobbying for the dualling of the North Cotswold Line to allow faster, more frequent and more reliable services to and from the capital and the South East.
Pressing West Midlands Railway to ‘shape up and improve services on the line between Hereford, Malvern and Birmingham’ are also in focus for the West Worcestershire parliamentarian.
“Together with the two extra X50 bus services into the station Worcestershire Parkway has become the ideal public transport option for commuters living to the south of Worcester,” Dame Harriett added.
