Passengers urged to plan ahead as West Midlands Railway confirms Christmas timetable

Thursday, 15 December 2022

West Midlands Railway (WMR) is warning of significant disruption and urging passengers travelling over the festive period to plan ahead amidst ongoing industrial action.

The train operator has published revised timetables due to ongoing industrial action.

The RMT union has announced its intention to stage action short of strike (a ban on overtime) between Sunday 18 December and Monday 2 January 2023 inclusive. Disruption is expected across all of these days and trains may be subject to on the day changes or short notice cancellations.

• A reduced service will be in operation on Friday and Saturday (16/17 Dec) between 7.30am and 6.30pm on certain routes and some routes will have no service.
• Services will run until 4pm on Christmas Eve.
• There will be no service on any WMR route on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
• A limited service will run on Sunday 18 December and New Year’s Day.

The TSSA union has announced its intention to stage strike action on Wednesday 28 December and Thursday 29 December. The impact of this action on WMR services is currently being assessed.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said:

“I am sorry that our passengers’ journeys will continue to be affected by industrial action during the Christmas period. We expect services to be busier across the rail network as a result of other train operators also being affected by industrial action.

“Our advice to passengers is to prepare for disruption across the Christmas period and check journeys carefully before travelling, as trains may be subject to short-notice changes.

“Anyone whose train is cancelled as a result of industrial action can claim a full refund from their point of purchase or travel on an alternative date.”

To stay up to date with how industrial action is impacting WMR services, visit www.wmr.uk/industrialaction

About West Midlands Trains

For further information on this release, 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

If you have been sent this press release, this is because we believe this to be of interest to you.

To sign up for all future releases, visit our newsroom and subscribe to our updates. You can unsubscribe to our releases at any time.