Users of the recently refurbished Berkswell railway station on Station Road in Balsall Common seem to have been pleased, mystified and annoyed with the work and subsequent service offering in roughly equal doses. The London Midland managed station has come under fire from users over ticket office opening hours (reduced to 16 hours per week since the reopening) and for the provision of a passenger shelter on Platform 1 which can only be accessed when the station is staffed.
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Partial restoration of Meriden bus link to Berkswell and Balsall Common
A long year of campaigning and negotiations by people from the villages of Meriden, Berkswell and Balsall Common has finally resulted in the partial restoration of a bus link between the three settlements and beyond into Solihull. One year on from the axing of a service that was a lifeblood service for some residents, Centro have made released a vehicle from their ring and ride Taxibus service to operate a permanent fixed route service, to operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The number 83 bus will start from Meriden, run through Berkswell, then parts of Balsall Common before heading into Solihull town centre via Catherine de Barnes.
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£1m Berkswell rail ticket office service to be axed
No sooner had the £1m Berkswell rail ticket office eyesore been completed [if you will forgive the possible misuse of the word 'completed' - ED], the local communities of Balsall Common and Berkswell can now expect it to become a £1m white elephant. Community travel watchdog Together for Transport has revealed today that Berkswell station, which has just seen a dogs dinner of a £1m upgrade, is threatened by recommendations contained in the McNulty report on the future of the rail industry.
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Property owners advised to lodge HS2 compensation claims now
Property owners who think they could be blighted by High Speed 2 are being urged to assume the worst and file their compensation plans now, even though the public enquiry is still underway and final route will not be finalised until later this year.
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Car fire on Tanners Lane
A BMW has been spotted on fire at about 2pm today at the junction between Tanners Lane and Truggist Lane.
Coventry Festival of Motoring ’10 car parade through Balsall Common this Sunday
(Updated 5th September with images from the parade) Coventry’s massive `Festival of Motoring’ will see a parade of hundreds of cars through Balsall Common, Berkswell and Meriden on Sunday Morning 5th September from 10.30am.
The Festival lasts all weekend at the War memorial park in Coventry. You can find out more information from the festival of motoring website http://www.festival-of-motoring.co.uk/ Read the rest of this entry »
Caroline Spelman on the buses
Meriden Ward MP Caroline Spelman
Caroline Spelman writes about the withdrawal of the no 82 bus between Meriden, Berkswell and Balsall Common:
“When the no. 82 bus service between Meriden, Berkswell and Balsall Common was withdrawn in late July, passengers were left standing (literally) by the redundant bus stops. Central Connect , which took over the service, rescheduled the route to run between Solihull and Coventry , but there is no bus between Balsall and Meriden and this leaves residents in Berkswell marooned with no public transport.
82 and 900 bus routes altered – no bus between Meriden, Balsall Common and Berkswell
Bad news for those relying on using the bus from Berkswell particularly…
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