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| At last ... a new bus bay for Hereford Station; April 2009. Read about it here | At last ... a pedestrian crossing for Hereford Station; April 2009. Read about it here | At last ... a bike shelter outside Hereford station; June 09. Read our response here |
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Our Aims How to Join SUMMER DAY TRIPS Contact Us Cotswold Line Poster BUSES Rob's Blog
Hereford Outer Distributor Road: Documents
(Hereford to) Worcester to London Twin Tracking; the Office of Rail Regulation on June 5th 2008 sanctioned the funding needed for the partial redoubling of the Cotswold Line. The work begins in July 2009. For a timetable and replacement bus information click here. It was the only optional scheme in Network Rail’s Business Plan that has had funding approved. Good news for everyone as it will reduce delays through to Hereford. Also on the Birmingham line, the track between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove is to be electrified, to allow for more trains. This will also help the Hereford-Birmingham line. The aim is to cope for more commuters now that thousands of new homes are planned in the area. We now need to continue this through to Hereford. There has been news on this front too. Rail for Herefordshire met the Route Utilisation Strategy team at Birmingham on January 26 2009, and were told that the RUS had identified a congestion problem on the Hereford-Ledbury stretch and it would now be investigated. The newly established Herefordshire Quality Rail Partnership (see minutes), has also discussed the need for infrastructure improvements. See Our Aims
The Local Development Framework: This is the plan for the county 2011 to 2026. Hereford has been selected as one of nine regional centres in the West Midlands for housing expansion. The Government wants 19,000 new houses to be built in Herefordshire. Herefordshire Council will not oppose this, it welcomes the developer levy each new house will bring and the extra money from Government it will be given. The new houses could either bring better public transport or more roads. If we are going to reduce carbon emissions and protect our countryside, the only responsible way to accommodate the new housing is to invest in buses, walking and cycling, plus to twin track the Hereford-Worcester line. This will allow more commuters to use the railway and possibly provide a park and ride at Withington (3 miles east of Hereford) and/or Moreton (3 miles north of Hereford). We also propose re-opening a railway line (such as Leominster-Kington) as a development link. Our response to the LDF is here. To learn more about twin tracking click here. The Regional Spatial Strategy, similar to the LDF, but for the whole of the West Midlands. Click here
'Edgar Street Grid' This is the name for the proposed re-development of the area of Hereford north of the ring road (which is on the line of the old city wall) surrounding the Cattle Market up to the football ground and east to the Station. We oppose this development because it will cut the railway station off from the rest of the town. To learn more click here.
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Rail for Herefordshire is an active rail pressure group. It is expanding its influence with local and regional government and transport authorities. However its voice will only be heard when it can claim to represent a large proportion of the county’s rail users. So please support us by joining the group. How You Can Help The group is consulted on by local and regional government on a range of planning and transport issues. We are looking for people able and willing to help with this work and also to propose imaginative alternative solutions to the current road based planning policy. We have received a grant to produce quarterly newsletters on Herefordshire’s rail. Writers, designers and illustrators are therefore particularly welcome. We also appreciate help with letter writing and other activities concerning rail issues |
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Meetings are held the second Thursday in every month, 7.30 to 8.30 p.m. in All Saints Church, Broad Street, Hereford. Meetings for 2008 are: Jan 8 Feb 12, AGM Andrew Lawton, Talyllyn Rail March 12 April 9 NO MEETING (meeting room not available) May 14: Professor Lumsdon; Slow Travel June 11: July 9: Aug: NO MEETING Sept 10 Matthew Engel; FT journalist and writer, will speak about his latest book on the railways Oct 8: Nov 12: Dec 10: |
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Twin-tracking the Hereford-Malvern line to improve reliability and increase train frequency. Train services between Hereford going east to Worcester, Birmingham, Oxford and London are restricted due a single line section between Hereford and Malvern. With the additional population planned for Herefordshire 2011-2026 (19,000 extra houses), the situation will get much worse. The single line goes from Hereford for 11 miles to Ledbury station and tunnel. After Ledbury tunnel there is another 4 mile single section to Colwall Station and tunnel. After Colwall tunnel the track is double until Worcester. At most this is 15 miles of double track, though the Ledbury-Hereford section would solve the problem, which is 11 miles. Estimated cost of twin tracking; £25 million. From Worcester, with the Cotswold line re-doubling, there will be a double track the whole way to London (148 miles) bar 20 miles. The draft West Midlands Region Rail Development Plan by Centro has a proposed strategy to double the Hereford line between 2019 and 2029. We think it should be done much before this, if we are to keep to our Climate Change and Car Congestion targets. See letters, see poster, see Cotswold work details
A station at Pontrilas. Pontrilas is 12 miles south west of Hereford, it is equidistant between Abergavenny and Hereford. There was a station here until 1958. It is the gateway to the border country, going towards Ewyas Harold and Hay on Wye. A station here would mean a 2 minute additional stop on the Cardiff-Manchester line. For Herefordshire it would provide a convenient public transport link for everyone living in this part of the county, and a potential Park and Ride stop. Estimated cost of Pontrilas Station; £5 million Station improvements at Hereford, to include pedestrianisation, signing and planting schemes. The setting of Hereford station is a public disgrace, the Grade II listed building, has an ugly forecourt of short term parking and blocked passenger entrance, no safe way for pedestrians to walk to the town, poor signage, no clear information point about buses or Hereford city. It is currently subject to planning blight due to the proposed make-over of Hereford, including a link road in front of the station (called Edgar Street Grid). Estimated cost of station improvements; £1 million
Funding for a feasibility study to look at opening new lines and stations. See the Kington Line More space for bikes on trains; Herefordshire encourages green tourism, if people want to visit the county by public transport they need to be able to continue their journey by bus or bike. At the moment it is difficult to get more than two bikes per journey on a train. This is woefully inadequate. Better connexions at Hereford between the ATW's Cardiff-Hereford-Manchester and LM's Hereford-Birmingham Better bus services and bus train connections. A bus group, part of Rail for Herefordshire, has recently (March 2009) formed, if you would like to get involved please contact Nancy Morgan nancymorgan@idnet.com Go to Buses |
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