Snapshot
With a vision to drive economic growth and support substantial population increases, the West Midlands Rail Executive commissioned a 30-year rail strategy to shape planning and prioritise investment across 14 diverse council areas.
With a vision to drive economic growth and support substantial population increases, the West Midlands Rail Executive commissioned a 30-year rail strategy to shape planning and prioritise investment across 14 diverse council areas.
The West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) was created as a partnership between 14 local councils and metropolitan authorities. With support from SLC Rail they successfully bid for substantial control of a new, regional rail franchise under the Government’s devolution agenda.
Recognising the significant role of rail in sustaining population growth and stimulating economic development, they commissioned SLC Rail to create a 30-year rail strategy.
The team from SLC Rail, together with the WMRE lead, followed four key steps in developing the strategy:
1. Agreeing the strategy timescales. Establishing key dates around which strategies would be developed and evaluated, including HS2 phases and rail franchise renewal.
2. Developing train service aspirations. Working with politicians and officers from the 14 members and two affiliates, gathering their aspirations for rail services and mapping them into a detailed and consistent whole.
3. Detailed economic modelling. Modelling populations and their predicted growth in fine detail, applying highly credible economic modelling under different growth and transport scenarios to evaluate the priorities.
4. Interpreting and communicating the implications. Reviewing the outputs and their implications on current infrastructure, to make clear and comprehensible strategic recommendations.
Following a consultation, the strategy was finalised and published in 2018 with the backing of all the partners. It details seven aspirational outputs – areas for focus and development. These include:
You may read the full report here.
The West Midlands Rail Executive is developing a detailed implementation plan and in parallel have commissioned SLC Rail to develop and deliver seven new stations across the area.
SLC Rail are also working with Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Coventry councils to implement rail projects in line with the strategy.