West Midlands Railway (WMR) has confirmed that a 'very limited service' will operate on Friday 22 May and Saturday 23 May due to two days of industrial action by members of the TSSA trade union. The operator is urging passengers to plan their travel in advance and to only travel if absolutely necessary, as trains will run only on a small number of routes.
Reduced Timetable Details
On both dates, services will operate to a reduced timetable. On Friday 22 May, no trains will run after 7pm, while on Saturday 23 May, services will start at 7am. There will be no trains at all on routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, the Camp Hill Line, or between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.
Routes with Limited Service
The following routes will have a limited service on both days:
- Cross City Line (Lichfield Trent Valley – Redditch / Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street): 2 trains per hour
- Wolverhampton – Walsall via Birmingham New Street: 1 train per hour
- Rugeley Trent Valley – Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street: 1 train per hour
Train times will be available in journey planners. No trains will run on any other WMR route, including all routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, the Camp Hill Line, or between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.
Impact on Sunday
Some minor disruption to services is expected on the morning of Sunday 24 May due to the displacement of trains from the previous days.
Statement from West Midlands Railway
Ian McConnell, Managing Director of West Midlands Railway, said: “We encourage TSSA to continue talks with us to reach a resolution to this dispute. This strike action will cause disruption to our customers with a significantly reduced timetable in operation on both dates. We are doing all we can to minimise the impact as far as possible and apologise to customers for the inconvenience. However, where services are running, we advise customers to only travel if necessary and to allow more time for their journey.”
Background
Members of the TSSA trade union are taking industrial action over pay parity and working conditions. The strike is expected to cause significant disruption to passengers across the West Midlands.
