Press release -
Cross City Line prepares to reopen between Lichfield and Birmingham
Passengers using the north end of Birmingham's Cross City line are being warned that ongoing disruption will affect travel in today's (Thursday) evening peak following damage caused by a fallen tree.
The line has been closed between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley since 11.30pm yesterday (Wednesday) after high winds brought a tree down onto the line near Wylde Green.
Network Rail engineers have removed the tree and are making final repairs to the damaged overhead wires before the line can be reopened to trains. This is expected to happen some time between 4pm and 5pm but a full service will not be in operation for several hours while trains are moved into the correct positions.
Replacement buses which have been in operation between Lichfield Trent Valley and Sutton Coldfield all day will remain in place, with train tickets being accepted on National Express bus routes.
Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for West Midlands Railway, said: “We thank our customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail engineers have been working to clear the fallen tree and repair the damaged overhead wires.
“We will continue to run replacement buses to help keep people moving until the service returns to normal but we urge anyone whose journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim compensation via the Delay Repay scheme.”
To claim Delay Repay from West Midlands Railway visit www.wmr.uk/delayrepay and for the latest travel information visit www.wmr.uk/plan
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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 80 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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