Return to the office prompts new rail services

The growing number of people returning to the office since the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a rail company to put on more trains.

West Midlands Railway said that while passenger numbers had not yet returned to pre-Covid levels there was an increasing demand for services.

Among timetable changes starting from Sunday, extra trains will run on Shrewsbury-Birmingham and Worcester-Birmingham lines on weekdays.

There will also be extra trains on lines in Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Rail companies have two windows every year to make changes to their timetables and Andrew McGill, a spokesman for the company, said: "It was our opportunity to add in any services where we think we need extra capacity."

He said that while working from home remained popular for some, there was evidence that more people wanted to travel to work, especially towards the middle of the week.

Mr McGill also said the company was busier at the weekends than during the week, with people preferring to use trains for leisure, ahead of commuting.

The changes will see additional weekday services from Birmingham to Shrewsbury, departing at 06:26, 19:26, 20:26 and 21:26.

In the opposite direction, there will be additional weekday services leaving Shrewsbury at 18:59 and 19:59 and an additional service taking people from Birmingham to Shrewsbury at 22:23 on a Saturday evening.

The Worcester Foregate Street to Birmingham New Street line will also get new trains and there will be timetable changes for trains on the Birmingham to Hereford line.

The new services will leave Worcester at 07:23 and return from Birmingham at 16:20 and 18:50.

There will also be an extra train from Leamington Spa to Coventry at 09:40 on Sunday mornings and a new early morning weekday train from Stafford to Crewe at 05:47.

On top of this, sister company London Northwestern Railway is introducing a new service, which it said would become the first direct train from Mossley Hill in Liverpool to Birmingham in decades.

Jonny Wiseman, the customer experience director for West Midlands Railway, said "multiple routes will be subject to minor changes," and he urged passengers to check before heading to the station.

Transport for Wales is also making changes to some services from Sunday.

It said its Heart of Wales line services will be reduced from five services a day to four between Swansea and Shrewsbury in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays.

The late evening Llandrindod to Shrewsbury service will be removed altogether.

Colin Lea, the Transport for Wales Planning and Performance Director, said the move was being made because of reduced demand.

There will also be some changes to the timetables for trains on the Manchester to Cardiff route, which stops in Shrewsbury and Hereford.

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