New rail carriages lined up for Midlands

Aug 22 2007 By Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Mail

THE West Midlands is to receive up to 70 new carriages to reduce overcrowding on local rail services.

But the allocation by the Department for Transport is a small proportion of the 1,300 new carriages planned for the national network.

The overwhelming majority, around 900 new carriages, are to go to London and the South East to relieve the capital's congested rail network.

Services set to benefit include those to Walsall, Four Oaks, Tamworth, Coventry, Stratford-upon-Avon, Redditch, Worcester and Wolverhampton.

Long distance commutes will benefit from an extra 106 carriages for Pendolino trains on the West Coast Main Line.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "The figures are based on careful analysis of rail use and capacity.

"We don't say the extra carriages will solve the nation's rail problems but they will provide extra capacity and that will help."

Around 24,000 travel to work by train in Birmingham and the surrounding area each day, compared with 755,000 in London and the South East.

Centro-WMPTA, the region's public transport promoter, said it welcomed the announcement.

Spokesman Steve Swingler said: "Our local rail system has been a real success story over the last decade or so.

"As a result passenger numbers have grown in the West Midlands by 50 per cent since 1995 compared to a national average of 35 per cent."