London Midland plans to run its scheduled timetable on Thursday with very few alterations, although some trains may be shorter or longer than usual to avoid problems caused by packed ice in the coupling mechanisms.
Network Rail, ourselves and other train operators will be doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum, but services are likely to meet with delay due to the weather conditions across the UK.
The main causes of delay over the past few days have been points failures, iced up components on trains (including horns and doors), speed restrictions, congestion at bottlenecks such as Birmingham New Street, and train windows being smashed by dislodged ice from passing trains. In addition, poor driving conditions on the roads have delayed traincrew and engineering staff on their way to work, particularly those starting in the afternoon.
All these factors are likely to have an affect throughout the week and we thank you in advance for your patience. Please accept our apologies if your journey is disrupted.
Ice becoming dislodged from trains and bridges/tunnels is a problem during snowy conditions.
Ice falling from underneath carriages can damage various components, some of which automatically bring the train to a stand. Ice freed-up when trains pass each other can smash windows, and this is a particular problem on higher speed routes such as the Euston line.
If we cannot complete repairs overnight, we may have to run some trains with fewer carriages than normal. As soon as we are made aware of any changes to scheduled train lengths, we will list them here.
- follow @LondonMidland on Twitter from 7am until 10pm for updates and personal travel advice
- visit londonmidland.com/live for live train running information
- sign up for free email travel alerts
- check the National Rail website for information on other train services
- download our free iPhone App
If your own rail journey is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you are entitled to our Delay Repay compensation. It's easy to apply, just visit londonmidland.com/delayrepay to complete the online form.
Once again, we are very sorry for any disruption you experience during this period.
