Delays and cancellations for rail passengers

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RAIL passengers in Barnt Green, Alvechurch, Longbridge and Northfield are among those facing numerous delays and cancellations to services today (Friday).

The 11.27am, 11.57am, 12.27pm, 4.27pm and 4.57pm services from Redditch to Lichfield, via Birmingham New Street, have all been cancelled.

London Midland confirmed on its Twitter feed that earlier cancellations were due to a broken down train in Barnt Green, taxis were being used to transport people between Longbridge to Redditch.

It follows several disruptions this week to services from Redditch to the second city.

The Standard has received reports from passengers about several cancellations because of staff shortages.

Among them have been Tuesday (September 18), when the 4.57pm was withdrawn and Wednesday (September 19) when the 6.57pm and 8.27pm trains were among those cancelled.

And another commuter told us that last night (Thursday), his service back from Birmingham was also cancelled without warning.

A London Midland spokeperson said: "We apologise in that we have not been able to deliver the full service we aim to and that our passengers rightly deserve.

"We are experiencing some occassions where we are temporarily short of traincrew, and this is a result of a vacancy gap.

"We have recruited a substantial number of new members, and will continue to do so but this takes some time while they are under training."

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