Rail passengers in Warwickshire warned of severe disruption on Friday due to emergency bridge repairs

West Midlands Railway passengers in Warwickshire are being warned of severe disruption to train services on Friday (23 October) while emergency bridge repairs are carried out.

Following the discovery of structural damage to a bridge in Salters Lane, near Bearley, Network Rail engineers are preparing to carry out emergency repair work. Due to the extent of the damage, new steel installations are required and work is not expected to be complete until Friday afternoon at the earliest.

Until the repair works are complete, no trains are able to call at Wootton Wawen, Henley-in-Arden, Danzey, Wood End, The Lakes, Earlswood, or Whythall stations. Rail replacement is in operation to and from these stations.

All trains running between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham will need to divert via Dorridge for the duration of the work, meaning some cancellations or amendments to train times are expected.

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for West Midlands Railway, said:

"Passengers using our services between Stratford and Birmingham should check their journeys before setting out on Friday as cancellations or service amendments will be in place for most of the day. If possible customers should consider using alternative routes or delaying their journeys.

"Network Rail is sending specialist teams to repair the damaged bridge as quickly as possible and I urge passengers to follow the latest travel updates using our website and social media."

Any passenger whose journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more as a result of the disruption can claim compensation via the Delay Repay scheme - visit www.wmr.uk/delayrepay for details.

To check live travel updates visit www.wmr.uk/plan or follow @WestMidRailway on Twitter.