West Midlands Railways concern over delays and cancellations

Malvern’s MP Harriett Baldwin described West Midlands Railways as ‘beleaguered’, describing the service as now under ‘constant review’. She has raised concerns over the poor performance of services between Birmingham and Malvern.

Cotswold Journal: CONCERNS: Harriett Baldwin has criticised the standard of service offered by West Midlands Railways to the people of Malvern CONCERNS: Harriett Baldwin has criticised the standard of service offered by West Midlands Railways to the people of Malvern (Image: Harriett Baldwin)

The West Worcestershire MP wrote to the Department for Transport sharing her concerns after a series of complaints from local people about delays and cancellations.

And Transport Minister Huw Merriman has confirmed that the Department has had detailed conversations with the rail operator to understand the cause of a series of service issues in the run up to Christmas.

Half of the delays were caused by staff sickness and absenteeism with the company currently experiencing quadruple the levels of absenteeism compared to the national average. Delays caused by infrastructure issues and flooding amounted to two out of five instances and one in ten delays were caused by ‘passenger incidents’.

Industrial action is also a root cause of the poor service, and the Department for Transport has committed to work with the rail operator to aim for an improved performance.

Mrs Baldwin said: “I wrote to the Department for Transport after receiving a disappointing letter from the managing director of West Midland Trains and the Government has carried out a full review of my concerns.

“The above-average sickness rate is troubling and it is clear that an overtime ban, and other industrial action, is directly harming the ability of my constituents to access a reliable train service to and from the second city.

“However, I have been informed that the recruitment issues are being resolved and that enough train drivers are now available to actually run the trains.

“I’ll be watching this issue closely over the coming months and I am reassured that the Department for Transport is doing exactly the same.”

A West Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the disruption to our services in the lead up to Christmas, which was due to a combination of industrial action, poor weather and unusually high short term sickness levels among train crew.

“Despite recent challenges, figures from the Office of Rail and Road show our performance has significantly improved year-on-year and we are continuing to work hard to provide better journeys for our customers. Since the pandemic we have recruited hundreds of newly-qualified drivers and introduced a brand new train fleet on the line last year.

“We share the frustration of our passengers that national industrial action is continuing to impact journeys but we are fully committed to improving our performance as we continue to welcome more passengers back to the railway in 2024.”

References

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