:00:00. > :00:08.A multi-million pound plan to prevent overcrowding on trains
:00:09. > :00:10.in the West Midlands has gained Government backing.
:00:11. > :00:12.The Midlands Rail Hub will provide much needed additional
:00:13. > :00:14.capacity on the rail network over the next decade.
:00:15. > :00:16.The scheme should mean more trains and thousands
:00:17. > :00:23.Here's our transport correspondent, Peter Plisner.
:00:24. > :00:26.The region's rail network is busy and getting busier -
:00:27. > :00:29.rail's share of the travel market has doubled over the last 15 years,
:00:30. > :00:31.and some expect similar growth going forward.
:00:32. > :00:33.Yes, I think it's definitely something that is needed.
:00:34. > :00:35.More trains, more often, would probably be a better solution
:00:36. > :00:46.And that's why the Midlands Rail Hub scheme is seen as so important.
:00:47. > :00:48.Designed by the Government backed Midlands Connect
:00:49. > :00:50.transport partnership - it's proposing several measures
:00:51. > :00:56.designed at delivering big capacity improvements.
:00:57. > :00:58.And some of the extra space for trains will be created
:00:59. > :01:00.by re-opening this platform at Snow Hill station.
:01:01. > :01:05.Until last year it was used by the Metro.
:01:06. > :01:07.Another of the big ideas involves opening up these disused platforms
:01:08. > :01:10.at Birmingham's Moor Street station, and using them for Cross Country
:01:11. > :01:12.services that currently stop at nearby New Street Station.
:01:13. > :01:15.Bringing the trains out of there and into here could add
:01:16. > :01:18.more capacity at New Street, that could be used for
:01:19. > :01:21.And to allow that to happen, a special flyover is needed
:01:22. > :01:24.here at Bordesley to connect that line, which runs into
:01:25. > :01:26.New Street to this line, which runs into Moor Street.
:01:27. > :01:29.And in addition to the changes at Birmingham stations and the flyover,
:01:30. > :01:34.the Midlands Rail Hub would also see major
:01:35. > :01:36.engineering work at Water Orton in North Warwickshire
:01:37. > :01:45.and Kings Norton, in south Birmingham.
:01:46. > :01:47.Midlands Connect is also hoping new signalling technolgy
:01:48. > :01:53.At its peak, it will take an additional ten trains per hour
:01:54. > :02:00.We calculate that about 85,000 seats a day.
:02:01. > :02:01.Platform and train lengthening is already planned to
:02:02. > :02:04.help overcrowding now - if it's funded, the Midlands
:02:05. > :02:06.Rail Hub will be phased in over the next decade.
:02:07. > :02:13.Our reporter Bob Hockenhull is at New Street Station in Birmingham.
:02:14. > :02:18.This sounds like much needed good news for commuters.
:02:19. > :02:22.If it all goes to plan, it'll become easier and more comfortable
:02:23. > :02:23.to travel around this region by train.
:02:24. > :02:26.Earlier, we asked for viewers to get in touch with their thoughts about
:02:27. > :02:34.Glenn Raybone says, "A better plan would be
:02:35. > :02:37.Stuart Winsor wrote, "More station capacity is fine,
:02:38. > :02:39.but we need the line capacity to go with it."
:02:40. > :02:43."If the trains were on time there wouldn't be overcrowding."
:02:44. > :02:53.And Shaukat Abbas says, "Open up the line between Stourbridge
:02:54. > :02:55.and Walsall, this would stop commuters changing in Birmingham
:02:56. > :03:00.Well, there was a stark reminder of how badly improvements are needed
:03:01. > :03:02.in Parliament today with one Stoke on Trent MP raising his concerns
:03:03. > :03:14.I had an e-mail very recently from a constituent who was concerned about
:03:15. > :03:17.a journey from Birmingham to Wolverhampton where she and others
:03:18. > :03:23.were standing and somebody fainted. She went to provide assistance. It
:03:24. > :03:28.will be present to lie down as would be required providing first aid. The
:03:29. > :03:33.train group said this is what happens regularly, because the train
:03:34. > :03:37.is so regularly crowded, there used to people passing out. My honourable
:03:38. > :03:41.friend draws attention to the situation that is all too common. If
:03:42. > :03:48.there is overcrowding sporadically and that something that can be
:03:49. > :03:50.caught with, but when it is regular, that requires attention and is a
:03:51. > :03:51.situation that isn't being addressed.
:03:52. > :03:54.The engineers and politicians behind the Midlands Rail Hub say
:03:55. > :03:56.they understand building a good transport network is crucial
:03:57. > :04:00.for building an economy that works for all.
:04:01. > :04:08.A father of three from Hereford, who set up a group targeting
:04:09. > :04:10.online paedophiles, says he's had sleepless nights
:04:11. > :04:12.after men sent explicit pictures to his fake profile.
:04:13. > :04:15.David Poole poses as a 14-year-old girl, on an online dating site.
:04:16. > :04:17.He's met several alleged offenders in sting operations,
:04:18. > :04:19.before calling the police and giving evidence of their conversations.
:04:20. > :04:23.He's been speaking to our reporter Sarah Bishop.
:04:24. > :04:28.An under age 16-year-old cannot consent to sex, right?
:04:29. > :04:33.David Poole confronts a man he claims has been chatting to a
:04:34. > :04:38.Jason is saying to him, "Keep your hands on the wheel."
:04:39. > :04:40.A man's allegedly sent indecent photos of
:04:41. > :04:43.himself and is expecting to have sex, when all the time he has
:04:44. > :04:45.been messaging David, a father of three
:04:46. > :04:51.You know, they are all choking to say it, literally,
:04:52. > :04:55.They all want to talk about sex straightaway.
:04:56. > :05:03."Do you want to lose your virginity, babe?"
:05:04. > :05:06.It was the death of his own son, Brandon, he says which sparked
:05:07. > :05:10.The 16-year-old choked on his own vomit at a party
:05:11. > :05:13.He was gay and had been harassed online.
:05:14. > :05:16.He used to show me, like, "Oh, Dad, look at this."
:05:17. > :05:18.And there would be married men, straight married men,
:05:19. > :05:20.sending him wanting to have sex with a 14-year-old boy.
:05:21. > :05:23.If a child has access to the Internet, the
:05:24. > :05:38.West Midlands police say whilst they realise paedophilia is a
:05:39. > :05:40.very emotive subject, they do not encourage members
:05:41. > :05:43.of the public to take the law into their own hands.
:05:44. > :05:45.It could compromise their own investigations.
:05:46. > :05:47.Saying that, Mr Poole tells us he's had many letters
:05:48. > :05:51.In fact, some people are so impressed with what he's doing,
:05:52. > :05:54.they've offered him tens of thousands of pounds so he can
:05:55. > :06:00.Mr Poole uses an old photo of his partner for
:06:01. > :06:04.Another sting Mr Poole has done has resulted in a
:06:05. > :06:07.He says he's now contact online with at least 40
:06:08. > :06:09.different men, aged between 20 and 50.
:06:10. > :06:12.He says he's doing a public service, trying to make Hereford a
:06:13. > :06:20.Sarah Bishop, BBC Midlands Today, in Hereford.
:06:21. > :06:22.Two of the region's biggest road bottlenecks have been
:06:23. > :06:23.officially re-opened today, after long-term works.
:06:24. > :06:25.The ?191 million improvement scheme at Tollbar Island,
:06:26. > :06:27.just south of Coventry, around the A45 and A46,
:06:28. > :06:31.The Catthorpe Interchange, where the M1, M6 and A14 meet,
:06:32. > :06:43.Two former BBC WM radio presenters have pleaded not guilty to a string
:06:44. > :06:48.Married couple Tony and Julie Wadsworth,
:06:49. > :06:50.have denied five charges of outraging public decency.
:06:51. > :06:52.They also pleaded not guilty to ten and 12 charges respectively
:06:53. > :06:54.of indecent assault relating to seven boys.
:06:55. > :07:07.More than 180,000 racegoers have attended the first three days
:07:08. > :07:09.of the Cheltenham Festival and that means a lot
:07:10. > :07:13.It's a big challenge for the course, which is aiming to stop sending
:07:14. > :07:16.waste to landfill by 2020 and recycle as much as possible.
:07:17. > :07:18.Here's our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve Knibbs.
:07:19. > :07:20.With the population of a small town descending
:07:21. > :07:22.on Prestbury Park every day, one thing is guaranteed -
:07:23. > :07:36.We have to pull out all the here as the recycling angels,
:07:37. > :07:41.We have to pull out all the cardboard from here.
:07:42. > :07:44.They work front and back of house making sure that waste isn't wasted.
:07:45. > :07:47.This is all no easy task - the jockey club has set itself
:07:48. > :07:49.a target of sending nothing to landfill in just
:07:50. > :07:55.Is a team of individuals who are trying to make sure that that
:07:56. > :07:59.education Michael is that the point where we can make sure everything is
:08:00. > :08:01.segregated correctly and recycling rates coming out of this event are
:08:02. > :08:08.as high as possible. This is the most exclusive
:08:09. > :08:10.restaurant the festival. In the kitchen, under the watchful
:08:11. > :08:12.eye of chef Albert Roux, There is, by it's nature,
:08:13. > :08:20.plenty of food waste. Add to that leftovers
:08:21. > :08:23.from across the site and 25 tonnes of rotting food each day ends up
:08:24. > :08:29.a couple of miles away at this. This is an anaerobic digestion plant
:08:30. > :08:31.where the festivals scrapings, as well as Gloucestershire's
:08:32. > :08:44.household food waste, When the magic happens, some of the
:08:45. > :08:48.methane gas is used to provide heat and electricity to run this site.
:08:49. > :08:49.The rest of it is cleaned up and pumped directly into the National
:08:50. > :08:53.And this isn't the usual black stuff seen at Cheltenham -
:08:54. > :08:55.it's the other by-product the fertiliser for local farmers.
:08:56. > :08:58.And think about it, this just might be used to help grow
:08:59. > :09:03.some of the food being served at next year's festival.
:09:04. > :09:06.It's been revealed that a hoard of gold discovered hidden
:09:07. > :09:08.in a piano in Shropshire is a collection of sovereign coins.
:09:09. > :09:10.The money pouch was found just before Christmas,
:09:11. > :09:12.when the piano was taken to be renovated.
:09:13. > :09:14.But before the find is declared treasure,
:09:15. > :09:16.there's a final attempt to find the original owner
:09:17. > :09:25.In 1915, the piano would have been 11-years-old, so it's already been
:09:26. > :09:27.in someone's house for a number of years.
:09:28. > :09:29.And whether it's suddenly changed hands at that point, and
:09:30. > :09:32.therefore a new owner has thought, "Ah, that's a great place to hide
:09:33. > :09:34.my loot," or whether it's actually something more, sort
:09:35. > :09:48.I'll leave you with the weather from Shefali.
:09:49. > :09:50.A much cloudier day, starting off with a lot
:09:51. > :09:54.of mist across the south of the region too and that impacted
:09:55. > :09:57.temperatures as well - a lot and cooler as a result.
:09:58. > :10:01.But there has been some sunshine - we saw some here in Birmingham
:10:02. > :10:04.an hour or so ago and in the north as well, where we saw today's
:10:05. > :10:08.At Newport in shropshire 12.3 Celsius - the mildest place
:10:09. > :10:11.But the south-east is going to benefit from the best
:10:12. > :10:14.of the brightness through the day tomorrow and that's great news
:10:15. > :10:19.Day four of the festival and apart from the odd shower during the gold
:10:20. > :10:21.cup, mainly dry, but hold on to your hat -
:10:22. > :10:26.This is what is bringing the changes in. An area of rain, most of that
:10:27. > :10:30.will arrive tomorrow evening and overnight. Even when it does, it
:10:31. > :10:33.will be largely late and patchy, stronger winds. That is the main
:10:34. > :10:37.feature. This is how it's looking in summery for the end of the week and
:10:38. > :10:41.we can. Outbreaks of rain for tomorrow, but the weak and largely
:10:42. > :10:45.dry and cloudy. Breezy, but still only mild side. Let's take a look at
:10:46. > :10:50.tonight, clearer skies across the region. Because of that, it's going
:10:51. > :10:55.to be cooler. Temperatures dropping to three or four Celsius. The breeze
:10:56. > :10:59.picking up into tomorrow. Starting of bright and sunny in the 30s, go
:11:00. > :11:00.to the clouding over. Top temperatures of eight, 11 Celsius.
:11:01. > :11:01.The there will be rain around, most
:11:02. > :11:10.occurring overnight. Good evening, quite a range of
:11:11. > :11:14.whether an offer earlier today in the north and north-west of the UK
:11:15. > :11:17.quite a lot of showers around, lively ones, little bit of sunshine
:11:18. > :11:20.in between. The best of the sunshine to be found at the other end of the
:11:21. > :11:25.country towards the south-east in Kent, lovely picture here from one
:11:26. > :11:29.of our weather watchers. A range of temperatures, too. 17 degrees for a
:11:30. > :11:32.few, on the other side of the weather front, only seven or 8
:11:33. > :11:37.degrees. Showers in the north and west. The fresh air will win out
:11:38. > :11:40.over tonight coming in behind the cold front, which isn't bringing
:11:41. > :11:43.much rain but it will bring some, clearing away towards the continent,
:11:44. > :11:48.cold air following behind, as do the showers. Wintry weather over the
:11:49. > :11:54.hills in northern Scotland. A much colder night than it has been
:11:55. > :11:55.recently. Into single figures, touch of frost in raw