Rail passenger frustration after services cancelled due to staff sickness

There were rail replacement bus services running between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury throughout the day on Monday after all lines between Shrewsbury and Wellington were blocked due to signalling staff being taken ill.

The closure of the section caused a knock-on effect on other lines, including those heading to-and-from Wolverhampton and Birmingham, with limited services running.

In Wolverhampton, there was a long queue full of frustrated travellers at the pick-up point for the rail replacement bus service on Lichfield Street, opposite the Moon Under Water pub, with many saying there had been no information about what was happening.

One traveller, who asked not to be named, said she had been returning from New Zealand and was already 24 hours into her travel, so was very frustrated about the situation.

She said: "I have heard nothing at all about the cancellation of services, apart from on the phone app, and there was nothing at the station to tell us where to go or when the coach is going to be here.

"You can't help the fact that people are sick, but what we need is more information at the station when you get off as to where to go, even if it's a board that says what's happening.

"I've travelled all the way back from New Zealand, so I am very hacked off at the moment, and I don't mind getting the bus, but I've been travelling for 24 hours with no problems and then you get here and this is happening."

Another traveller, who also asked not to be named, said she was trying to get to work and said there had not been enough information provided.

She said: "I asked the conductor on the train to Wolverhampton and she told me that a passenger had told here there was a bus, so it's not good that the rail staff are having to find out from passengers what is going on.

"I just asked in reception at the station and they pointed me this way, so I've been waiting here for about half-an-hour and not heard anything about what was going on, so I'm late for work and that makes it worse."

The leader of Wolverhampton Council, Councillor Ian Brookfield, said he wanted the train companies to provide more notice to train passengers to avoid situations like this.

He said: "Whenever I hear about train cancellations, I think of the travelling public, as you can imagine them trying to travel to an important appointment, like a hospital appointment, and being told their travel can't be delivered, which must be devastating.

"I know there are rail replacement services, but they aren't as convenient as getting to your stop on the train, and we seem to be getting more of these kinds of delays and cancellations, and it impacts on the whole economy of the region.

"We should be asking questions of these train operators about this as it's unfair on the public and it does wear you down, so I would ask for more certainty on the rail network and more information for passengers."

A West Midlands Railway spokesman said that, initially, buses were running on an ad-hoc basis as they had been sourced at short notice but, from lunchtime, an hourly timetable was put in place with departures from Wolverhampton at 25 minutes past the hours and Shrewsbury at 50 minutes past the hour..

Four coaches were put on to shuttle passengers in both directions between Shrewsbury & Wellington and six were put on to serve all stations between Wellington and Wolverhampton.

The spokesman said: "We are sorry that a reduced service is in operation between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury today due to a combination of signalling staff being taken ill and a shortage of available train crew.

"A rail replacement service is in operation and passengers are advised to check before travelling.

"Any passenger whose journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more due to the disruption should claim compensation under the Delay Repay scheme."

A spokesman for Network Rail confirmed that the reason for the cancellations was indeed staff sickness.

The company has had some long-term illness amongst signalling staff on the Shrewsbury line and contingency staff have been filling in the gaps.

The spokesman said: “Owing to emergency staff sickness, we have had to close Abbey Foregate signal box.

"This means that there are no trains running between Shrewsbury and Wellington stations.

“We are sorry for the disruption this has caused and we are working to try and reopen the signal box, and the route to and from Shrewsbury, later this evening.

"In the meantime we advise all passengers to check before they travel.

“The signal box at Abbey Foregate can only safely be operated by specially trained individuals.

"We are currently undergoing an extensive recruitment and training programme to ensure we have more trained signallers at this signal box in the future.”