Yesterday the Shropshire Star reported that Virgin Trains is planning a new service from Shrewsbury to London. It would call at Wellington and Telford before going via Wolverhampton, Walsall and Nuneaton.The Nuneaton stop means that I could catch it there and get to Shrewsbury without having to change at Birminghan New Street. (I used to change at Coventry to get there in the days when there were direct services from Euston to Shrewsbury and from Leicester to Coventry.) But I couldn't picture the route it will take across the West Midlands.
The Sutton Coldfield Observer makes it clear that the trains would make use of the freight-only line that runs through Sutton Park.
I lived in Sutton Coldfield for a year in the early 1980s and discovered the old Sutton Park station on one of my walks. It had been closed to passengers since 1965 but the station buildings were in use as a Royal Mail depot.
Rails Round Birmingham (thanks for the photograph - I have a similar one of my own somewhere) reports that the station was demolished about a year ago. The Observer report suggests that the Shrewsbury trains could stop in Sutton Coldfield, but they would have to build a new station either at Sutton Park or nearer the town centre.
Sutton Park itself is also well worth a visit. The Sutton Coldfield Natural History Society claims in is the largest urban park in Europe.
1 comment:
1) That sounds a really slow route. I wonder what the timings would be.
2) Sadly the largest park in Europe thing is a myth. It's not even the largest park in England. It's beaten by Richmond Park, which in turn loses to the Bois de Vincennes. (Naturally, I'm not going to assert that the Bois de Vincennes is the largest in Europe, but I can't think of a counter-example on that one!)
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