Plans to build a new regional interchange station at Norton near Worcester are forging ahead following official approval of the scheme by the Department for Transport.
Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd, which has over 60 years’ experience as a multi-disciplinary contractor, has been awarded the design and build contract. They will be working alongside SLC Rail, who are project managing the scheme on behalf of Worcestershire County Council.
Worcestershire Parkway forms part of the Council’s Local Transport Plan and Worcester Transport Strategy and is pivotal to its ambitious growth plans to boost the County’s economic value to £2.9bn, creating 25,000 new jobs by 2025.
It will be built on a 14-acre site just off Junction 7 of the M5 at the intersection of the Worcester – London Paddington ‘North Cotswold’ and Birmingham to Bristol railway lines.
It is funded from profits from the station through car park fees and station access charges levied on the Train Operating Companies and an investment of £8.3m by Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership through the Government’s Growth Deal.
Councillor Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Economy, Skills and Infrastructure, said: “This is really good news for Worcestershire. The new station will improve journey times for Worcestershire’s rail commuters, cut down travel times to and from London and improve links to other major cities such as Gloucester and Birmingham.
“Given that Worcestershire already has one of the fastest growing economies in the country, the new Parkway station will help us to maintain that growth and open the county up to new markets.”
Ian Walters, Managing Director at SLC Rail, commented: “The appointment of Buckingham Group sends a clear message that Worcestershire’s long held vision of a new station will soon become reality.”
For more information please see our Worcestershire Parkway project profile or contact us.
