Rail Disruption – Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend

Virgin Train travelling through Tamworth - Photo: Stephen Redfern

The upcoming Bank Holiday weekend spells misery again for users of the West Coast Mainline.

Over the Whitsun Bank Holiday (23, 24, 25 May), engineering work will continue on the West Coast Mainline between Crewe and Milton Keynes with the Trent Valley section of line being closed all weekend, reopening on Tuesday 26 May.

Those travelling on Virgin Trains to Tamworth are advised to change at Coventry onto trains serving Birmingham New Street or Nuneaton for connection services to Tamworth.

For those who use the Virgin Trains service to Stoke-on-Trent, there will be a reduced service all week due to extensive work on the platforms at Stoke-on-Trent station.  Check the Virgin Trains website for more information.

Rail chaos hits the towns railway service

Cross Country Train - Photo: Kevin Boyd

Sunday 27 April saw much of Tamworth’s rail routes severely disrupted due to a major police incident on the upper line between Tamworth and Birmingham . The incident in Birmingham involved a huge police operation which lasted several hours.

Early on Sunday morning (Just before 10.30am), Police received reports of a man bound to a car with what is believed to gas canisters inside, the full report of the incident can be found on the BBC.  During the operation the West Midlands police setup a 500 metre protective Police cordon which included our line that connects the North (Newcastle, Edinburgh) with the South West (Bristol) and Wales.

The disruption meant passengers going to Burton upon Trent and catching a replacement bus service to Tamworth Train Station.  The line reopened shortly after 5pm on Sunday evening with a normal service beginning to resume.