Top communications award for West Midlands train operator

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Monday, 30 September 2019

Top communications award for West Midlands train operator

A communications industry body has hailed the work of West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway in informing passengers of major timetable changes.

The operators were named Silver Award winners at the PRide Midlands awards for the information campaign surrounding the launch of the May 2019 timetable.

The timetable featured the biggest shake-up of train services in the West Midlands for more than a decade, introducing more direct services to more destinations and increased capacity on some routes.

The information campaign included a range of techniques to share details of the changes, including press releases, features, drop-in sessions, individual briefings with MPs and business briefings.

Andy Camp, commercial director at West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway, said:

"The timetable changes we made in May 2019 were the biggest in more than a decade. The timetable brought new journey opportunities for our passengers and it was essential that the changes were supported by a detailed information campaign to maximise the new services from day one.

"I am proud our team has been recognised for their efforts with this prestigious award."

To see the full list of winners at the PRide awards - organised by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations - click here .

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 70 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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