West Midlands Trains news
West Midlands Trains operates passenger services under the West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway brands.
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NewsBletchley depot reopened following £80m modernisation
UK: Bletchley Traction Maintenance Depot has been officially reopened by Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy following an £80m modernisation programme.
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Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains nationalisation date confirmed
UK: West Midlands Trains is to transfer to the public sector on February 1 2026, the Department for Transport has confirmed.
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Rail Business UKSpencer Group completes three-year depot expansion project
UK: Spencer Group has completed a three-year project for West Midlands Trains to extend and improve facilities at Tyseley depot in Birmingham.
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Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains capacity boost as Class 730/2 units to enter service
UK: West Midlands Trains has confirmed that the much-delayed entry into service of its Class 730/2 Alstom Aventra EMUs is now expected to begin on June 9.
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Rail Business UKNew date for contactless payment expansion at four train operators
UK: The introduction of pay-as-you-go travel using contactless bank cards and mobile devices at further 47 stations is now scheduled for February 2, having been delayed from September 2024 as a result of a cybersecurity incident at Transport for London which how now been resolved. The ...
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Rail Business UKEarlier boarding trial aims to improve London Euston passenger experience
UK: Earlier boarding of Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway services from London Euston station is being trialled. This is part of an effort to improve the passenger experience by reducing the rush from the concourse which can occur when the departure platform is announced ...
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Rail Business UKFive-point plan to improve the passenger experience at London Euston station
UK: Network Rail and the Department for Transport have announced a five-point plan which aims to improve the passenger experience at London Euston station pending longer-term changes. Network Rail said a ‘major reconstruction’ of the ‘outdated’ station is required to meet current demands, and avoid ’very ...
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Rail Business UKEuston still has a problem
UK: ‘Even on good days, the passenger experience at London Euston fails to match its importance as the capital’s main rail gateway to four of the UK’s largest cities. But it is when train services are disrupted that the station really struggles to cope, with high ...
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Rail Business UKTarget the worst-performing train operators first, says Transport UK
UK: The government should target the worst performing passenger train operators rather than simply use contract expiry dates for taking operations into public ownership, according to Dominic Booth, CEO of Transport UK. Transport UK — a management buy-out of Dutch state operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s former rail ...
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Metro Report InternationalContactless payment expansion on hold following TfL cybersecurity incident
UK: The expansion of pay-as-you-go contactless payment to 47 more c2c, London Northwestern Railway, Southeastern and South Western Railway stations has been put on hold because of the ongoing cybersecurity incident at Transport for London. TfL is working with the Department for Transport and the Rail ...
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Rail Business UKPay-as-you-go to be extended to 47 more stations
UK: Pay-as-you-go travel using a contactless bank card or device is to go live at a further 47 c2c, London Northwestern Railway, Southeastern and South Western Railway stations from September 22. This will not impact existing ticketing options or the availability of traditional season tickets, and ...
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Rail Business UKFirst stage of £36m Tyseley depot expansion completed
UK: Spencer Group has completed the first of three phases of a £36m project being undertaken on behalf of West Midlands Trains and Network Rail to enable Birmingham’s Tyseley depot to handle four rather than three-car trains. The first stage included removal of a significant section ...
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Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains proposes Manchester to London service
UK: West Midlands Trains has announced plans to extend its existing West Coast Main Line services to create a Manchester – London route.
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Rail Business UKCrossCountry DMU maintenance contract signed
UK: CrossCountry has awarded West Midlands Trains a long-term contract to continue to maintain the long-distance operator’s Class 170 diesel multiple-unit fleet at Tyseley depot in Birmingham until 2031. ‘Servicing, maintaining and cleaning the Class 170 fleet has been, and continues to be, an important part ...
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Rail Business UKPorterbrook to finance Class 730 depot improvements at Bletchley
UK: Rail leasing and asset management company Porterbrook is to finance a £66m upgrade of Bletchley depot as the principal maintenance base for West Midlands Trains’ Alstom Class 730 Aventra EMU fleet. This will include investment in overhead electrification equipment, 10-car and five car sidings, refurbishment ...
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Rail Business UKFull Bedford – Bletchley service returns with £1 tickets
UK: A full service will resume on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley from February 19, operator West Midlands Trains has announced. Trains on the route were replaced by buses in December 2022 following the demise of Vivarail, which supplied ...
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Rail Business UKClass 730 EMU arrives in the West Midlands
UK: ‘Customers will have their breath taken away’ said West Midlands Mayor Andy Street when West Midlands Railway presented its Alstom Aventra Class 730 EMUs in Wolverhampton on February 8. As part of a £700m investment in new rolling stock, operator West Midlands Trains is introducing ...
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Rail Business UKCapacity increase future-proofs Birmingham’s University station
UK: A three-year project to increase passenger capacity at University station on Birmingham’s Cross City Line was completed with the opening of two buildings on January 28. The station was designed for 500 000 passengers/year when it opened in 1978, but expansion of the university and ...
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Rail Business UKInterview: ‘It’s time to bring back dynamism’
UK: Cost control, revenue growth and a competitive dynamic will be key to securing the future of the UK rail sector, Transport UK Group Chief Executive Dominic Booth explains to Tony Miles.
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Rail Business UKBedford - Bletchley train services to resume
UK: A limited train service on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley is to resume on November 20, London Northwestern Railway has announced. The route has been served by rail-replacement buses since December 2022, when Vivarail which maintained the Class 230 DMUs used on ...