West Midlands Railway has announced that it will begin to operate a new timetable from next week as part of their commitment to operating a regular service for key workers during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Passenger numbers continue to fall, and now the operator is making further changes, which come into effect from Monday 6th April 2020.

The latest timetable has been designed to keep as many services running as possible and has been built in ‘chunks’ to reduce the length of journeys.

All journeys between Birmingham New Street and London Euston will now involve a change at Northampton.

Some routes will no longer receive a West Midlands Railway service, including:

• Worcester to Hereford (no alternative direct operator)
• No trains will call at Bearley and Claverdon (served by Chiltern Railways)

What did the officials say?

Julian Edwards, managing director of West Midlands Railway, said:

“The rail industry is facing our biggest challenge in peacetime. We are working together to operate a regular service for our key workers and those making only the most essential journeys.

“With increased numbers of rail workers entering self-isolation due to coronavirus and a big drop in passenger numbers, now is the right time to make further changes to our service. As the government has made clear, people should only use the train for essential journeys.

“I would like to pay special tribute to our front-line staff, including drivers, conductors, dispatchers, station teams, engineers, cleaners and those in our control centres. Their hard work and dedication to keeping the trains running are helping key workers save lives.”