Timetable changes bring improved reliability for London Northwestern Railway

A series of timetable changes to further improve the reliability of London Northwestern Railway trains will come into effect next week, more than two months ahead of schedule, the operator has confirmed.

Due to the complexity of the planning processes involved, changes to railway timetables can usually only be made twice each year, in May and December.

However, as part of the Improvement Plan unveiled by new London Northwestern Railway managing director Julian Edwards to improve the reliability of services, the operator has won the agreement of Network Rail to make a number of important alterations from Monday 2 March 2020.

The changes, which affect a small number of services, will build on improvements made in December 2019 and will lay the groundwork for more substantial alterations coming into effect in May 2020.

Since the December changes, cancellations are down 80% and the number of trains arriving on time has risen from 68.1% in November to 83.1% in January, according to the industry-standard Public Performance Measure.

Julian Edwards, managing director of London Northwestern Railway, said:

"These timetable changes are another important step of the Improvement Plan we have launched to improve the reliability of our services for the benefit of our customers.

"Negotiating to bring these amendments forward by more than two months has not been easy but improving the experience for our passengers as quickly as possible is our top priority."

Changes from Monday 2 March include:

• Between 0800 and 1700, one train per hour heading towards Birmingham or Rugeley will no longer stop at Cheddington until mid-May
• Some trains heading towards Stoke and Crewe will no longer call at Smethwick Galton Bridge on weekdays (off-peak)

A further significant change will come into effect from Monday 16 March, improving reliability for passengers travelling between Birmingham and London as well as Rugeley and Birmingham.

From that date, one weekday departure per hour from London will no longer travel on to Rugeley Trent Valley, instead terminating at Birmingham New Street, reducing the length of the route and decreasing risk of delay.

The change means the routes of the 0820, 0921, 1020, 1120, 1220, 1320, 1420, 1516, 1620, 1720, 1820 and 1918 departures from Rugeley Trent Valley will be self-contained in the West Midlands, with services terminating at either Birmingham International or Coventry.

For more details on any changes at your local station visit www.lnr.uk/whatsnew or for live departure times visit www.lnr.uk/plan