Train services cut over carriage spare parts delay

A number of train services between Birmingham, Hereford and Worcester are being temporarily cut, with a shortage of carriages blamed.

West Midlands Railway (WMR) has halted four of its 48 daily services on these routes including a rush-hour morning train, with the changes starting on Monday and expected to last until early summer.

The company was currently short of specialist parts needed to fix some carriages' wheels due to "a blip" in its supply chain, WMR public affairs manager Andrew McGill said.

"Our message to customers is: Please do bear with us, we're very, very sorry for this inconvenience," he told BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester.

The halted services include the 07:23 BST train from Worcester Foregate Street to Birmingham New Street, as well as the 17:50 train from Birmingham New Street to Hereford.

The 19:50 train from Hereford to Birmingham New Street, plus the 22:00 service from Birmingham New Street to Worcester Shrub Hill, have also been withdrawn.

Mr McGill said WMR hoped to have enough parts to begin reinstating services in June or July, but it was not yet possible to give an exact date.

"These are really specialist parts" and "it's not like Tesco has run out of something and you can pop to Sainsbury's to pick up what you need," he said.

Mr McGill said WMR had considered all options before withdrawing the services, adding that the company still ran several services from Worcester to Birmingham for commuters in the morning peak period.

West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has written to WMR and asked it to review its decision, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported on Sunday.

"The rail operator has failed to deliver a fit-for-purpose train service for many years, with successive managers blaming anyone but themselves for the appalling train service," Ms Baldwin said.

"I have asked the management to come up with a better plan that doesn't mean that commuters will simply stop to use the commuter service in the future."

In a statement, WMR's engineering director John Doughty said the amended timetable had been brought in due to circumstances "outside of our control" and the company did not "take these decisions lightly".

He added he was "very sorry" for any impact on customers.

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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