Bescot TMD
 A British Rail Class 92 no. 92018 at Bescot. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Walsall, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 52°33′45″N 1°59′30″W / 52.562571°N 1.991755°WCoordinates: 52°33′45″N 1°59′30″W / 52.562571°N 1.991755°W |
| Owner | DB Schenker Rail (UK) |
| Depot Code |
3A BS |
| Details | |
| Pre-grouping | Grand Junction Railway |
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
Bescot TMD is a locomotive traction maintenance depot in the West Midlands, England. Situated adjacent to Bescot Stadium station, the depot with code BS is currently operated by DB Schenker Rail (UK). Bescot Yard is to the south-east of the depot. This entire complex of track is clearly visible from the northern end of the M6 and M5 motorway junction.
History
The line via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot is the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. The section between Walsall and Cannock was constructed by the South Staffordshire Railway. The section between Cannock and Rugeley was constructed by the Cannock Mineral Railway. Bescot Yard was opened to handle coal and goods traffic in the Birmingham area, and so needed a depot to provide and service a wide range of locomotives. After the LMS took over in 1923, the shed code became 3A. The shed was rebuilt as a straight-road pre-cast concrete structure with brick infill sides in the 1930s.
The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, remaining open to freight. This brought about the closure of the LMS steam shed, and the opening of the diesel shed in March 1966. The Walsall line then reopened to passengers in stages.
Present
After the sell-off of British Rail, the shed now with code BS was allocated to primary operate English Welsh and Scottish Railway. However after the down turn in traffic post the Financial crisis of 2007–08, since 2009 the depot has had no allocation of locomotives and is only used for light maintenance and fueling. In December 2013, the former LMS steam Sheds still remain but are isolated from system and boarded up.. Bescot steam shed was demolished during December 2013 and had completely vanished by February 2014
Future
In 2012, Transport authority Centro urged the UK Government to look at making Bescot into a freight station instead of constructing a new station from scratch, in order to cope with increasing freight services. A re-opening of the South Staffordshire Line between Stourbridge and Walsall (it has been closed as far as Brierley Hill since 1993) is also proposed, which would allow freight trains to enter Bescot TMD via the Bescot curve.[1]
References
- ↑ Peter Rhodes (2012-01-14). "Freight increase may see rail yard expand « Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
- Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland, S.K. Baker ISBN 0-86093-553-1