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Rail passengers urged to check before travelling this Christmas

Press release -

Rail passengers urged to check before travelling this Christmas

London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway are advising passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel this Christmas.

Amended timetables will be in place from Tuesday 24 December until Wednesday 1 January 2020, with a reduced service on some routes. Network Rail will also be carrying out planned improvement works at locations across the network during this period.

The train operators are advising customers to plan ahead and allow plenty of time for their journeys, as services are likely to be busier than usual.

Andy Camp, commercial director at London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway, said:

“A lot of people will be travelling over Christmas and New Year and we want everyone to get where they need to be as smoothly as possible. We advise our passengers to leave plenty of time to make their journey and to check their train times before setting out. We don’t want anyone to get caught out by amended timetables or to miss their last train home.”

On Christmas Eve, reduced timetables will operate on some routes from 3pm onwards, with services finishing earlier than usual. The last trains from towns and cities are often very busy, so passengers are advised to travel earlier in the day wherever possible.

As usual there will be no trains operating on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Services will then resume slightly later than normal on Friday 27 December.

Planned improvement works are taking place at some locations between Friday 27 December until Wednesday 1 January 2020, affecting services across the network.

In the West Midlands, improvement works on the Cross City Line will see the stretch of track between Blake Street and Lichfield Trent Valley closed on December 27 and 28, with rail replacement buses in operation.

Revised timetables will be in operation on December 27, December 30 and New Year's Eve on London Northwestern Railway services between London Euston and Watford Junction, Tring, Milton Keynes Central and Northampton.

Buses will replace trains between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton/Rugby after 9.30pm on Monday 30 December.

For the latest travel updates over the festive period follow @lnrailway and @westmidrailway on Twitter.

Topics

Regions


About West Midlands Trains

For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk

West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.

  • London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
  • West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.

For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk

The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.

West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.

The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com

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Contacts

Press Office - Media Use Only

Press Office - Media Use Only

Press contact 03300 955150
Liam Bolland

Liam Bolland

Press contact Media Relations Executive

West Midlands Trains Ltd. operator of train services calling at over 150 stations across England.

Operating train services between London and North West and in and around the West Midlands region.

West Midlands Trains
134 Edmund Street
B3 2ES Birmingham
United Kingdom