Passengers promised a better service as London Midland awarded new contract
THE Department for Transport (DfT) has agreed a contract with London Midland for it to continue operating train services between the West Midlands, London and the North West.
But the DfT is stressing that a £13m package of improvements must make journeys better for passengers and has introduced new targets to improve performance, punctuality, cleanliness and customer satisfaction.
It is pledging improved connections from more services with around 6,600 extra seats every week, and a better customer experience with free Wi-Fi and ‘click and collect’ tickets.
Under the contract London Midland will continue to run services between London, the West Midlands and the North West of England until October 2017.
Rail minister Claire Perry said: “We have already delivered significant improvements in the West Midlands and surrounding areas – including investing more than £60m in a fleet of brand new trains, and the massive £750m redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station which was completed earlier this year.
“Today’s contract with London Midland builds on this work, and will not only ensure that customers continue to benefit from better journeys, but also support long-term economic growth in the region and beyond.”
There will be extra evening services every weekday from London to the Trent Valley, providing an additional 2,300 seats from Euston each week.
There will also be earlier services to central Birmingham on Sunday mornings from surrounding towns including Rugby and Lichfield and new Sunday services from Longbridge, Dorridge and Whitlocks End.
These services will provide more than 900 extra seats every week.
And there will be more than 400 extra car parking spaces across three stations including Tamworth.
Under the terms of the new contract, London Midland will have to meet new targets for passenger satisfaction, punctuality and cleanliness
Extra drivers, conductors and on-board staff will be recruited to ensure improvements are delivered.
London Midland will also install CCTV on cross-city Birmingham services to improve security, and equip station staff with tablets to improve the information given to customers.
The operator will also be required to work with the Smart Cities Partnership to introduce smart ticketing on trains, building on the existing Swift smartcard scheme..
London Midland managing director Patrick Verwer said: “Winning this contract is a great endorsement by the DfT of how London Midland is focused on improving our passengers’ journeys.
“Since 2007 we have invested nearly £300m in trains and stations. Over the last two years we have significantly improved performance – cutting both delays and cancellations. Twelve months ago we delivered a further £60m investment in ten brand new trains.
“Last year we also introduced a new timetable, offering more seats and services than ever before into and out of major towns and cities and cut our Birmingham to London fares by up to 40%.
“This new franchise offers some very exciting opportunities and will bring benefits touching every element of our passengers’ journeys.”
The West Midlands franchise will be funded with a subsidy of £130m over the duration of the contract.
Around 64m passenger journeys are made on London Midland services every year.
In addition to the improvements being promised through the franchise, the Government said it is pushing ahead with electrification of the Chase line from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley, and the extension of electric services to a new station at Bromsgrove.
Further investment between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa will see two new stations opening soon at Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park. A new station, partly funded through the government’s New Stations Fund, is also being built at Kenilworth and will be served by a new Leamington Spa to Coventry service when it opens.
