Slower main line trains claim because of HS2
Trains that are 'slower' than current services will run on the West Coast Main Line through the West Midlands under plans for the controversial high speed rail project HS2, it has been claimed.
Network Rail, the company responsible for tracks, has hailed the £42.6bn project as a chance to free up the overcrowded system by transferring intercity services to the new 225mph trains.
And in a new report it says more than 100 towns and cities will get quicker, more frequent journeys as inter-city services are replaced with trains that stop at more stations.
But critics say it will mean the current 125mph trains offered by Virgin through Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton and Stafford will be replaced by slower ones dubbed 'semi-fast' by rail chiefs because they will call at more stations.
The Network Rail document outlines how a current Birmingham to Wigan service would be 'released' by the second phase of HS2 when the new line goes to Manchester and Leeds.
In its place is the 'potential' for a new 'semi-fast' service calling at Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Penkridge, Stafford, Crewe, Hartford, Winsford and Warrington Bank Quay.
It also proposes smaller stations served by half-hourly services between Lichfield, Rugeley Trent Valley, Stafford and Stone in place of the Euston to Wigan service. And it offers an extra London to Crewe train each hour calling at Lichfield and Stafford.
A London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly service would be replaced by a 'semi-fast' service calling at Walsall, Cannock and Rugeley Trent Valley.
Paul Plummer, from Network Rail, said: "This study is part of a wider programme that looks at how the high speed and existing lines might work together as a single network. We welcome feedback on this initial study in advance of more detailed assessments of the benefits."
Alison Munro, chief executive of HS2 said: "By taking an integrated approach, HS2 will free up capacity across the network, connecting people to jobs and goods to markets. Up to 100 towns and cities could get better journeys , extending the benefits of HS2 way beyond the line itself."
But Joe Rukin from the Stop HS2 campaign said: "Freeing up capacity is just another way of saying passengers will lose existing services. Semi-fast is not the same as fast. These services will be slower than the inter-city trains we currently have. HS2 requires £7 billion of savings. Just because Network Rail has identified these potential services, doesn't mean it'll happen."
