West Midlands Railway Warns of Major Disruption During Two-Day Strike

West Midlands Railway is warning passengers to expect major disruption next week as strike action by members of the TSSA union severely reduces services across much of the network.

The industrial action is scheduled for Friday 22 May and Saturday 23 May, with only a limited number of routes set to operate. Rail bosses are advising customers to travel only if absolutely necessary due to the significantly reduced timetable.

On both strike days, services will finish earlier than normal, with no trains running after 7pm on Friday and a delayed start to operations on Saturday morning, when trains will begin from around 7am.

Only three parts of the network are expected to see limited train services during the strike period. The Cross City Line between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch or Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street railway station will run at two trains per hour. Services between Wolverhampton and Walsall via Birmingham New Street will operate hourly, while the Rugeley Trent Valley to Birmingham International route will also see one train per hour.

No trains are expected to operate on any other West Midlands Railway routes during the strike action, including all services running through Birmingham Snow Hill, the Camp Hill Line and routes between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.

Passengers are also being warned that some disruption could continue into the morning of Sunday 24 May because of the repositioning of trains and rolling stock following the strike period.

Ian McConnell, WMR managing director, 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."

Passengers are being encouraged to check journey planners carefully before travelling as only a small proportion of normal services will be available across the network.

Image: West Midlands Railway