What does the future of train travel between Shropshire and Birmingham have in store?
New trains, digital screens, wi-fi and extra seats and services are all being promised as part of a new rail franchise covering Shropshire.
Shortly before Christmas the familiar green and black London Midland trains which carry many passengers from Shrewsbury, Telford and the smaller towns and villages in the east of the county into the urban sprawl of the West Midlands will disappear.
In their place will appear a new range of purple and grey trains carrying an orange and grey livery – that of West Midlands Railways.
That will be one change resulting from the award of the new franchise for the West Midlands railway network, which will be introduced in December and last until March 2026.
Overall, £1 billion will be invested in new trains, upgrading stations, and running new services.
By the end of 2019 all main line services will be fitted with free wi-fi for passengers, while the new franchise holder will offer 25 per cent compensation to passengers when services are more than 15 minutes late.
It has also pledged to provide better access to stations for disabled people, and more modern trains that will be able to cope more effectively with leaves on the line during the autumn.
More than £60 million will be invested in station improvements including 1,000 car parking spaces, more than 2,500 cycle parking spaces, a cycle hire scheme, new and refurbished waiting rooms and more seats at stations.
Digital screens and mobile services telling passengers how busy the network is will also be introduced, while £700 million of the money will go towards new and refurbished trains, with 400 carriages to be introduced by 2021.
While the names of old and new operators suggest local companies, the move actually sees one international consortium replace another.
Govia, which runs London Midlands, is a partnership between Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Go-Ahead Group and French transport giant Keolis. Its replacement, West Midlands Trains Ltd, is a tie-up between Dutch company Abellio and Japanese giants East Japan Railway Company – which runs the world's busiest station in Tokyo – and Mitsui & Co.
The franchise will be split into two parts – the West Midlands Railways trains that will become familiar to commuters in Shropshire, and which will be managed in part by a consortium 16 local councils including Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, and another unit that doesn't yet have a name that will run longer routes into London and Liverpool.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is great news for passengers using West Midlands services – with new trains, more space, more regular services and easier access for disabled people.
"We are improving the whole travelling experience with live train crowding information, compensation for people delayed by 15 minutes or more, smart ticketing and better value tickets for part-time workers."
The new service will see 20,000 extra seats added for rush hour passengers in Birmingham, and 10,000 in London.
There will also be standing room for 50,000 passengers in Birmingham in carriages similar to those on the London Overground, for short cross-city journeys, and standing room for 5,000 more London passengers.
As well as extra trains in Shropshire, the operator plans to add direct rush hour trains connecting Walsall and London, two trains per hour between Birmingham and Rugeley, and direct hourly services between Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent from December 2018.
Go-Ahead chief executive David Brown said he was "disappointed" that London Midland had missed out on the renewed franchise.
He added: “London Midland and its people have been part of our Group’s rail business for 10 years.
"In that time we have delivered significant improvements across the entire network which have seen London Midland transformed into an award-winning franchise with high levels of employee engagement and customer satisfaction."
The new franchise is one of three that cover Shropshire, along with the West Coast Main Line which sees Virgin provide direct London services from Shrewsbury and Telford, and the Wales and the Borders franchise run by Arriva Trains Wales.
The West Coast Main Line is due for a new franchise award in 2019, and will also include the running of the early years of HS2. The Wales and the Borders franchise is due for renewal next year, and a consultation into the service has already taken place.
