Thousands more rail seats for West Midlands in £62m move
Thousands more seats per week will be available on trains through the West Midlands from Monday as part of a £62 million investment in services.
Rail firm London Midland hailed the plan as its biggest timetable shake-up in six years, promising more services in and out of Birmingham and to London,
The new timetable comes into effect from Monday and will mean Stafford will gain 4,000 more seats to London each week and faster journeys.
On the Trent Valley line there will be 2,000 extra seats a week to Birmingham.
London Midland announced £62 million worth of new trains, new services and 139,000 more seats per week across its network. This includes 75,000 extra seats in and out of Birmingham New Street and more direct services to the capital.
London Midland managing director Patrick Verwer said: "With more people travelling with us each year our passengers are telling us they want more services, quicker journeys and more seats. We have listened and taken the opportunity with our new trains to make as many improvements for as many passengers as we can.
"With £62 million invested in new trains, this is the biggest change to our timetable in six years."
In the West Midlands the Cross City line will see one of the biggest improvements with the Redditch to Birmingham service increasing from two to three trains per hour.
There will also be an extra 6,000 seats between New Street and Birmingham International.
London Midland is also increasing the number of services from Birmingham and Coventry to London. This means there will be an extra 18,000 seats on this route to and from the capital each week.
The company said that since 2007 it has seen demand for its services grow by a third.
London Midland has been adding carriages to some services ahead of the introduction of the new timetable, which will allow it to fully utilise its new 110mph train fleet.
Rail Minister Claire Perry, speaking at the launch of the timetable at Euston yesterday, said: "We are absolutely committed to building a world-class rail network that provides more seats, more services and better journeys. I am delighted that London Midland's passengers across the network are seeing the benefit of our investment.
"This is just one way in which we're transforming the rail network. Over the next five years, more than £38 billion will be spent on improving and maintaining our railways, providing improved journeys for passengers across the UK."
Councillor Roger Horton, lead member for rail and Metro on Centro, the region's public transport co-ordinator, said: "These extra services and seats, especially on the Cross City line to Redditch, will further improve the level of comfort and convenience for passengers.
"These enhancements will also help meet the ever rising demand for rail travel in the West Midlands, which has seen passenger numbers double over the last decade or so."
For more details on the changes to local services visit www.londonmidland.com/goodnews
