West Midlands Trains ordered to spend £20m on enhancing services

West Midlands Trains has been ordered by the Department for Transport to spend an extra £20 million on service improvements, after WMT breached its performance targets.

The DfT also made it clear that this decision should act as a warning to other operators that poor performance and failure to meet contractual obligations will be met with a firm response, although there is no mention of Abellio being at risk of losing the WMT franchise.

The money will be used to fund an already announced 3% discount on season ticket renewals and a 10% reduction in off-peak fares in July and August. May and December timetable improvements will also be funded by this extra money. Extra drivers and senior conductors will be recruited to counter staff shortages.

Since the timetable change in May 2019, performance on some lines has fallen from 92% to 45% ( RAIL 896).

“West Midlands Trains has failed to fulfil its obligations - to its franchise agreement and, most importantly, to its passengers,” said Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps.

“The action we’re taking means they must invest in rapidly improving services, so that passengers have reliable, punctual trains they can rely on.”

Rail Minister Chris HeatonHarris added: “Every minute of delay adds up. For far too long, passengers have been left stuck on train platforms at the mercy of a fickle live departure board. Having our country’s trains run on time must be the rule, not the exception.”

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who recently withdrew his threat to ask Government to strip Abellio of the WMT franchise after conceding that performance had begun to improve, said: “Performance at the back end of last year was absolutely woeful and it is only right - as I requested - that the firm must pay the price financially.”