Community News

Rail passengers are being advised of changes to journeys over nine days from this weekend while engineers invest millions of pounds improving future journeys on the West Coast main line through Staffordshire. Network Rail is carrying out a programme of upgrades on the Trent Valley line between Saturday 15 and Sunday 23 July.

This involves an £8.5m investment into the railway at Colwich Junction which will see engineers:

• Install 2km of new track
• Replace 3,300 railway sleepers
• Lay 2,500 tonnes of new track foundation stone, called ballast

At the same time work will continue on a major scheme to renew the railway signalling system in the Trent Valley area*. During the closure, engineers will also use the time when no passenger trains are running to safely remove Cross City line platform 3 at Lichfield Trent Valley station.

Long-distance trains will use alternative routes, and rail replacement buses will keep passengers on the move between stations on the Trent Valley line itself.** With the work coinciding with ongoing strike action by the RMT and ASLEF unions, people should follow the latest travel advice from their individual train operators websites:

• Avanti West Coast – Click the link for more detail
• West Midlands Railway – Click the link for more detail
• London Northwestern Railway – Click the link for more detail

Passengers are being advised that journeys will take longer, could involve rail replacement bus services and that timetables will be different.

Dave Penney, Network Rail North West and Central region passenger director, said: “These major track and signalling improvements on the Trent Valley line will mean better, smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers and freight in future. However, complex upgrades like these mean we have no choice but to close sections of railway for old sections of track to be ripped up and replaced with new, and for new signalling equipment to be installed and tested.

“Given this work is over the summer holidays I’d urge anyone planning to travel between 15-23 July to please check National Rail Enquiries to plan their journeys. I’d also like to thank passengers in advance for their patience.”

Barry Milsom, executive director of operations and safety at Avanti West Coast, said: “While Network Rail carry out these major works, we’ll be operating an amended timetable and journeys to and from London Euston will take longer. We strongly advise customers making journeys between 15 and 30 July to plan ahead and check the Avanti West Coast website before travelling.”

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director at West Midlands Railway, said: “Investing in new track and the upkeep of our railways will support a better travel experience, providing passengers with more efficient journeys on our services in the future.

“As a result of these works, I urge passengers to check their journeys between 15-23 July as the major upgrades will result in either longer journey times, bus replacements or alterations to services along the Trent Valley line.” At the same time, HS2 is planning to move a huge new bridge structure into place while no trains are running on this busy section of the West Coast main line.

Scores of workers have been building the 6,500-tonne concrete bridge beside the railway over the last six months. It will be slowly driven into place on the back of a huge transporter vehicle to become a 56m long and 19m wide bridge to carry the existing railway southeast of Lichfield Trent Valley station.

In the space created underneath, HS2 lines will then be built in the coming years and allow Britain’s new high-speed railway to pass beneath the West Coast main line in future. When complete, HS2 which will transform journeys between London, the Midlands and the North, providing zero-carbon journeys from day one and also making space on the existing railway network for more freight and local services. Meanwhile, Saturday 15 July also marks the start of a six-month closure of the interchange with the Cross City line at Lichfield Trent Valley station for platform three to be demolished then entirely rebuilt.

*These upgrades over nine days in July include the next phase of an £85m project to upgrade the signalling system in the Trent Valley area. The equipment installed in this railway closure is in preparation for the new signalling to be in operation in 2024.

**Detail on service provision by train operator between Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 July:

• Avanti West Coast services will divert around the railway closure with an amended timetable in place. It will mean extended journey times for passengers travelling to and from London Euston.
• London Northwestern Railway: Crewe – London Euston services will run between Rugby – London Euston only. Buses replace trains between Rugby and Stafford. Passengers are advised to use alternative services between Stafford and Crewe.
• West Midlands Railway: Buses replace trains between Hednesford and Rugeley Trent Valley, as well as between Bermuda Park and Nuneaton

There will also be changes to services on Sundays throughout July.

Plans to turn changing rooms at a derelict sports pavilion into a Hindu temple have been given the go-ahead. The Oxford Hindu Temple Project is set to transform the football changing rooms at Court Place Farm, Marston.

The plans have been approved by Oxford City Council as part of the project's lease on the building. The revamp will see two halls created in the building, one as a place of worship, and the second as a place for community gatherings. Plans for the internal design are due to be submitted.

New legislation which entitles carers to one week’s unpaid leave to support their loved ones has been welcomed by a leading employment lawyer.

Joanne Stronach, who is Head of Employment Law and HR at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, said the new measures introduced as part of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 were a step in the right direction to support the millions of people who provide unpaid care to dependant family members or friends.

JLS star, Aston Merrygold, has been a longstanding supporter of McDonald’s and its founding and forever partner Ronald McDonald House Charities UK. Recently the singer headed down to the Birmingham House to visit families and hosted a special House party for the children and their families.

This summer, McDonald’s and Ronald McDonald Houses across the UK have been hosting ‘House Parties’, to provide a day of light relief for the little ones and their families. As parents and children staying at the free ‘home away from home’ accommodation often miss out on celebratory occasions and family gatherings. 

The Leader of the City of Wolverhampton City Council, Cllr Ian Brookfield, sadly passed away last weekend, after a battle with cancer.

The reaction to the tragic news from across the West Midlands included tributes from Mayor Andy Street, and the chief executive of the City of Wolverhampton Council Tim Johnson.

Birmingham City Council’s Community Safety team joined a national campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and help keep people in Birmingham safe.

ASB Awareness Week (3-9 July 2023) encouraged communities to take a stand against anti-social behaviour and highlight what actions residents can take, with a range of public events educating people about how respond to and help prevent ASB in their neighbourhoods. The city council’s Community Safety Team, together with colleagues from the council’s youth service, schools as well as members of Birmingham’s Local Community Safety Partnership and city partners including West Midlands Transport.

As the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday, workforce remains its highest priority. Could the answer lie in younger generations? New research from NHS Professionals - the leading provider of flexible workforce solutions to the NHS - suggests it could.

Elena and Rishi are two young people who have been actively working through the NHS Professionals bank, and the research indicates that many of their generation are open to joining them. According to new research, two thirds of young people say they would choose to seek flexible work within the NHS.

Cunard unveiled a remarkable new cutaway image of its newest ship, Queen Anne, which pays homage to the luxury cruise line's uniquely rich heritage.

Released yesterday to celebrate its 183rd birthday, the intricate animation has been designed in the style of Cunard's iconic advertising posters from the 1920s, offering a playful glimpse inside the ship's interiors. This cutaway encapsulates the essence of playful luxury that guests will experience onboard our newest ship.

An exhibition of paintings by a British artist which depict aspects of the 11-day massacre in the Bosnian town in 1995 will be displayed in the Council House on Srebrenica Memorial Day, on 11th July 2023. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Chaman Lal will view the exhibition on Tuesday before councillors take their seats in the council chamber, where an all-party motion will be brought by Cllr Martin Brooks OBE.

New YouGov findings published today by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) suggest a growing number of young adults could turn to insurance fraud as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. As many as one in four young adults now say they would ‘likely’ consider an act of insurance fraud if they were struggling financially, which is a marked increase when compared to the same survey results taken last year*.

The findings come amid concerns that more people are turning to opportunistic fraud as they struggle to make ends meet. In response, IFB has launched a public awareness campaign called Fraud Cons to highlight the devastating consequences that fraud can have on those tempted to make fraudulent insurance applications or claims.

Something spectacular will be happening over the next few weeks at Birmingham New Street as Ozzy the bull returns to the city. Passengers travelling through the busiest station outside of London may have noticed some huge hoardings go up recently, behind which the star of last year’s Commonwealth Games opening ceremony will be rebuilt.

Festival season has gripped Birmingham, after two local care homes welcomed the local community to party their way across the summer. The team at Care UK’s Edgbaston Manor, on Speedwell Road, and Metchley Manor, on Church Road, were joined by the local community to sing their hearts out at their summer events.

Summer is the perfect setting to clean public spaces since many professionals decide to travel, educational facilities expect a slower pace of students, and businesses prepare to welcome tourists that expect pristine clean spaces.  

During the summer, it's the ideal time to deep clean and maintain a healthy and clean environment. The frequency in which a space is cleaned should not be reduced because there are less people on site, Grupo EULEN recommends the cleaning protocols should remain standard to be more effective. It is also a good time to consider outsourcing a third-party company that can deep clean your facility and provide maintenance of roofs, landscaping, A/C filters among other services.

AI and robotics can provide positive transformational opportunities, but should be employed in conjunction with manpower in order to achieve the best results. That’s the view of one of the country’s leading experts in the field, who says ensuring an effective balance is struck will help ensure businesses maximise efficiency and profits.

Ian Hart, adi Projects’ Business Development Director, said: “Androids are not capable of replacing humans inside factories altogether. But as the power of AI continues to develop, they have the potential to become irreplaceable for specific functions. 

A brand-new study released by Zego reveals where in the UK is most cost-effective to be a taxi driver- Hereford ranking in second.

The taxi insurance experts at Zego have examined several administration costs that are required when setting up as a taxi driver in each UK city. Startup factors include the average cost taxi insurance, initial cost of a DBS certificate, average cost of a taxi licensing fee (for three years) and the average cost of petrol per litre. 

Explore fantastical computer-generated ecosystems and play with amazing interactive creatures at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in a new summer exhibition Microworld Wolves: A Digital Adventure. Microworld is a dynamic and interactive exhibition which has been seen by over 500,000 people.

Microworld Wolves fills three rooms with colourful projections and pixel-based creatures which respond to the audience – and is a celebration of a new type of living art that encourages experimentation and collaborative play. Created by Genetic Moo, Microworld Wolves uses computers, projectors and sensors so that visitors can experience a fully interactive and immersive art space.