Disruption on Thursday 5 January
We are very sorry if you were caught up in the disruption affecting trains on the Lichfield to Birmingham line on Thursday and thank you for your patience.
What happened?
At around 1120hrs, the 1027 Redditch to Lichfield service was struck by a tree in the Sutton Coldfield area causing damage to the train and overhead power lines.
Although we managed to transfer passengers from the train involved to a train on the adjacent track after about an hour (following the arrival of Network Rail and London Midland staff on site), the lack of power supply led to a delay in moving the second train.
Most other trains were moved by 1445hrs, with the one involved in the incident itself rescued at around 1800hrs following the cutting back of the tree. Repairs to the overhead wires eventually took place mid-evening and the first train left Birmingham for Lichfield at around 2000hrs.
What did we do?
To protect the service between Birmingham and Longbridge/Redditch, the Birmingham to Lichfield service was suspended between 1200-2000hrs, with all trains from the south terminating at Birmingham New Street. We also arranged for National Express West Midlands to accept rail tickets between Birmingham and Four Oaks to connect into a bus shuttle service that we were providing (using 8-11 vehicles) to Lichfield.
How did we do?
We tried our best to provide suitable alternatives as quickly as possible, with extra customer service support provided at New St by a number of managers and Head Office staff to assist at Birmingham New Street station during the evening rush hour. This was supplemented by the regular updates via our Twitter feed @londonmidland.
If you would like to tell us how we did, or have suggestions for the future, please email comments@londonmidland.com.
Remember, if you were delayed by more than 30 mins, you can claim Delay Repay via our iPhone App or at londonmidland.com/delayrepay.
