Timetable changes bring improved reliability for London Northwestern Railway

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Tuesday, 25 February 2020

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

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 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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