Changes to rail services due to traincrew availability

Wednesday, 21 July 2021

London Northwestern Railway is making temporary changes to its timetables from Saturday (24 July).

The train operator says the changes are necessary due to Covid 19 and the ongoing impact of ‘Test and Trace’ notifications causing trains to be cancelled at short notice. The changes affect services between Northampton and London, and on the Abbey and Marston Vale lines.

London Northwestern Railway’s Customer Experience director, Lawrence Bowman said; “No one wants to see trains being cancelled, particularly at short notice. But we are experiencing more of this, across all our services, as increasing numbers of staff are getting ‘pinged’ by the Test and Trace app. We are sorry that we have had to make the decision to alter some services. However, the changes will help us run a more reliable and consistent timetable for passengers across our network.”

The planned changes will be:

From 24 July 2021

On Saturdays, buses will run in place of trains on the Abbey Line (between Watford Junction – St. Albans Abbey) and the Marston Vale Line (Bedford – Bletchley).

From 26 July 2021

The following weekday services will no longer run:

07.53 Bletchley – Euston

17.05 Euston – Watford Junction

17.43 Watford Junction – Euston

18.24 Euston – Northampton

In recent weeks the train company has seen the number of staff having to self-isolate quadruple resulting in trains being cancelled at short notice and fewer carriages being available on some services.

Before the pandemic, the train operator recruited over 100 extra drivers but their training has also been delayed due to Covid restrictions. The company now estimates it will take up to a year before all of its new train crew are qualified.

Ends

About West Midlands Trains

For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email [email protected]

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 Main Line to and from London Euston.

• West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill.

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

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