New timetable introduced for London Midland passengers
London Midland's new timetable comes into force from this Sunday, December 9th, 2007.
The timetable is the first one to be introduced by London Midland, which is one of the UK's newest rail companies.
It provides the framework for the company to deliver 1,200 train services a day, on routes to and from London Euston, throughout the West Midlands and up to Liverpool, and build stronger levels of customer service.
Steve Banaghan, Managing Director of London Midland, said: "We're pleased to introduce our first timetable as London Midland and I am sure passengers will notice the improvements we will be making to their travelling experience, and in terms of better facilities at many of our stations.
"Also, during the next few weeks, we will be helping Christmas shoppers by providing an extra 1,000 seats on key West Midlands services on Saturdays in December."
Passengers can expect the same levels of customer service with the new timetable as before; London Midland will be running the same number of trains after December 9th and the timings of services have not altered.
However, the new timetable marks the end of leaf fall season, where some services were operating with slightly extended journey times to allow them to recover from delays when rail conditions were slippery or contaminated. As from December 9th, these slightly extended timings will no longer apply.
London Midland will be investing £300 million in new rolling stock, station improvements and other initiatives to deliver a modern, 21st century rail service, and these improvements will start to be introduced during 2008.
Ends
Notes to editors
1. For further information, please contact London Midland communications on 0121 654 1278, email Andrew Bennett at andrew.bennett@londonmidland.com or go to www.londonmidland.com
2. The new timetable will be in force until May 17th 2008 and the introduction of the timetable on December 9th co-incides with changes to other Train Operating Companies' timetables, which take place on the same day.
3. Some editions of the new printed timetable did not include the 0734 and 0756 Bletchley to Euston Monday-Friday services, calling at Watford Junction. In fact, there is no change to these services and London Midland has amended the printed timetable to include them. Posters are up at the relevant stations explaining the situation, and telephone and online booking services have the correct information.
4. Details about London Midland's Christmas and New Year services will be published soon.
5. London Midland is the new company operating the new West Midlands' train franchise through the heart of England. Our network of services span from London in the south, to Birmingham in the midlands and Liverpool in the north.
6. London Midland is a wholly owned subsidiary of Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis. Govia operates the Southern and Southeastern rail franchises, and is responsible for 268 million passenger journeys annually.The Go-Ahead Group operates buses throughout England, including regulated services for Transport for London in the capital. Its aviation division undertakes support services for national and international airlines and through Meteor Parking operates the second largest parking company in the UK. Keolis operates in seven European countries, specialising in automatic underground systems. Keolis manages the largest bus and coach fleet in France and operates of tramways and railways in Europe.
