We understand that Virgin Trains intend to apply for new direct train services between London Euston and Shrewsbury, also between London Euston and Blackpool, starting in December 2013.

The Shrewsbury service would operate twice a day and call at Rugby, Stafford (where the trains would reverse), Telford, Wellington and Shrewsbury. There would be late morning and early evening departures from London, with early morning and mid-afternoon departures from Shrewsbury. There would also be one journey each way on Sundays. If the application is successful, journey times of under an hour and a half from Rugby to Shrewsbury are expected. The service would be operated with 5-car Voyager diesel trains.

The Blackpool service would also operate twice a day and call at Rugby, Stafford, Warrington, Wigan, Preston and Kirkham, with departures at similar times of day to the Shrewsbury service. Journey times between Rugby and Blackpool would be about 2 hours 15 minutes. Five car Voyager trains would again be used.

Virgin Trains are in discussion with the Department for Transport (DfT) about the inclusion of these services in their extended franchise. They are also applying to the Office of Rail Regulation for a Track Access Agreement which would enable them to run these services. To be successful in this application, they will have to demonstrate that suitable timings are available which will not cause delay to other trains, and that the new services would not be "primarily abstractive" of another operator's revenue.

If Virgin's application for a Track Access Agreement is successful, this would be good news for Rugby. Not only would there be four extra fast trains each way between Rugby and Euston on Mondays to Saturdays plus one on Sundays, but the Blackpool service would restore an albeit limited direct service between Rugby and the North West.

For further details including proposed timings see the SK Media news update.

The Passenger Focus National Passenger Survey for Autumn 2012 shows increased customer satisfaction with the National Rail network.

Key findings include:

• 85 per cent overall satisfaction with train services
• satisfaction with value for money rises to 47 per cent
• individual operator value for money satisfaction varies between 29 and 75 per cent
• punctuality remains the key driver of rail passenger satisfaction.

Network Rail has set out its investment plan for the period from 2014 to 2019, known as "Control Period 5". In the West Midlands, these plans include:

• the remodelling of Birmingham New Street station, currently under way
• Stafford area improvments, including a flyover at Norton Bridge to remove conflicting moves across the main lines when a northbound train is proceeding towards Stoke
• Cross City line improvements,which will provide a twenty minute service to both Redditch and Bromsgrove. This will involve electrification from Barnt Green to Bromsgrove and relocating the station there, as well as additional track on the Redditch line
• Coventry to Nuneaton upgrade. This will provide two new stations at the Ricoh area and Bermuda Park near Nuneaton, and an increased frequency of trains every 30 minutes
• Electrification from Nuneaton via Coventry and Leamington to Oxford, as part of the "electric spine" project
• Electrification from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley.

Most rail fares were increased on and from 2 January 2013. Regulated rail fares, which are saver tickets and season tickets, are capped by the government and the average rise is limited to a maximum of 4.2%. This means that some regulated fares can rise by more than this, provided other fares are reduced by a similar amount to compensate.

All other fares are unregulated and Train Operating Companies have the freedom to charge whatever rate they feel is commercially viable.

You can the calculate fares which apply from 2 January by using the National Rail Journey Planner or Season ticket calculator as appropriate.

The December issue of the London Midland newsletter is available by clicking here.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that Virgin Trains will continue to run train services on the West Coast Main Line for another 23 months. The franchise will therefore be extended to 9 November 2014. However, if a new franchise can be let in a shorter time, the DfT have reserved the right to terminate the franchise up to 6 months earlier.

This means that the previous DfT announcement whereby a short term franchise would be "let in 9 to 13 months" will not now happen, and West Coast train services will move direct from Virgin to a new long term franchise in the Autumn of 2014. Apart from the already announced hourly service to Glasgow on Mondays to Fridays, it is expected that the existing timetable will operate for the remainder of Virgin's franchise. Any other improvements to services are therefore likely to be delayed until after 2014, and will be the responsibility of the new successful franchisee.

For further details see the DfT press release , and also the BBC News item which covers the publication of the Laidlaw Report into the West Coast franchising process as well.

The major timetable change for 2012 occured on Sunday, 9 December. Principal changes affecting Rugby are as follows:

Virgin Trains

Following the withdrawal of the franchise award to First Group by the Department for Transport, services on the West Coast Main Line will continue to be run by Virgin Trains until Autumn 2014 (see separate News item). The existing timetable will therefore continue for this period, except that on Mondays to Fridays there will be an hourly service between London Euston and Glasgow throughout the day. As a bi-product of this, the 19.58 Preston - Euston, which calls at Rugby at 21.27, now starts back from Glasgow Central at 17.30. This provides a through Scotland - Rugby train in the evening for the first time since the timetable change of 2008.

London Midland

London Midland have introduced phase 1 of their Project 110 scheme from the December timetable change, following the granting of a Track Access Agreement for this new service. This wll provides a new fast train between Rugby and London each hour during off peak periods running at 110mph for most of the journey. With one stop at Milton Keynes, journey times from London to Rugby of around 55 minutes are promised. These fast trains continue north of Rugby as the Trent Valley local service, which has been completely revised as a result. There are also additional peak hour trains on the Trent Valley route, although only one of these (16.46 ex Euston) runs in the accelerated 110mph timings. Phase 2 of Project 110 will provide faster trains during peak hours as well, but these are dependent on a separate Track Access Application and additional class 350 trains which are now on order. These peak time trains will not therefore start before May 2014 .

On the Rugby - Birmingham route there are no major changes, although some trains have been retimed by a few minutes.

For full details see the National Rail Journey Planner. A summary of peak time services from Rugby to both London and Birmingham is available on the timetable page of this website.

Following the result of an application to the Department for Transport (DfT), London Midland have announced changes to ticket office opening times. These changes are planned for introduction over the next few months.

On the Euston - Rugby - Birmingham line, only the ticket office at Cheddington will close completely. Some other stations on the route will have reduced opening hours, including Adderley Park where it was originally proposed that the ticket office would close completely. Ticket office opening times at Northampton, Milton Keynes and Watford Junction will not be altered.

Rugby is currently a Virgin Trains station, as are Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street, all of which are therefore unaffected.

For further details see the London Midland announcement and the full details of the changes .

Despite London Midland announcing that the effect of the December timetable combined with revised rostering arrangements should reduce the number of train cancellations, some trains are still being cancelled, particularly at weekends and over the holiday period. However, the number of cancellations is much reduced from the Autumn period, with some weekdays on which no trains are cancelled. London Midland state that with new trainee drivers recruited over the past 12 months now becoming qualified to drive trains, the situation should ease further.

Details of cancellations and service disruptions will be shown on the London Midland website.

The announcement of projects in the rail investment programme for 2014 - 2019 (known as the High Level Output Statement or HLOS) includes schemes which could be of benefit to Rugby rail users.

• The East - West rail link project will see the Oxford - Bletchley line reopened, and new services between Oxford / Aylesbury and Milton Keynes / Bedford. This will provide an alternative route between Rugby and Oxford by changing at Milton Keynes. It it possible that faster journeys will be available than by changing at Coventry, depending on connection times at Milton Keynes. This route will also serve Bicester Town, which is close to the Bicester Village shopping outlet. The reopened line between Bletchley and Oxford will also be electrified.
  
• The Coventry - Nuneaton line, already being upgraded to provide a more frequent service and new stations at the Ricoh arena and Bermuda Park, is to be electrified.
  
• A new "spine" electrification scheme to provide an electrified route between South Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Southampton will see the line from Coventry through Leamington and Banbury to Oxford electrified. Combined with other schemes, this will provide a through electrified route between Coventry and Southampton. Part of the existing single line between Kenilworth and Leamington will be doubled to increase line capacity.
• A "grade separated junction" (in other words a flyover) will be provided at Norton Bridge (north of Stafford) so that trains to Stoke and Manchester will not have to cross the southbound tracks on the level. This will increase line capacity between Stafford and Crewe.

Major engineering work is taking place to track and signalling in the Bletchley area from 22.00 on Saturday 22 December until Friday 28 December. During this time, both Virgin and London Midland train services will be revised.

From 22.00 Saturday 22 December until Monday 24 December inclusive

All lines in the Bletchley area will be closed.

Virgin Trains. The only trains to and from London Euston will be an hourly service to Coventry and Nuneaton via the Chiltern line. All other trains will start at Rugby, from where there will be hourly services to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. Trains running via the Trent Valley line will call additionally at Nuneaton to connect with the special service from Euston.

London Midland. London Midland services will not run between Hemel Hempstead/Tring and Milton Keynes, with special buses running between these points. An amended train service will operate on the sections of the route which remain open.

Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 December

The work at Bletchley will continue. There will be no train services on these days due to the Christmas shutdown.

Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 December

Some lines in the Bletchley area will remain closed. As a result, both Virgin Trains and London Midland will be operating a reduced service to a revised timetable.

If you intend travelling by train over the Christmas period, you should check with the National Rail Journey Planner to see what trains will be running.

Regulated rail fares will now be limited to average rises of RPI plus 1% in January 2013 and 2014, the Department for Transport has announced.

Regulated rail fares had been expected to rise by RPI + 3% in January but, as happened last year, this has been reduced to RPI + 1%. Regulated rail fares are Saver and Season tickets. Train Operating Companies have the freedom to change whatever they consider to be a commercial rate for all other fares, so it is possible that these may be increased by a greater amount to compensate.

For further details see the DfT press release.

Because of a continuing shortage of train crew, London Midland have announced there will be cancellations in their services until 11 December. Cancellations will be shown on their website from 17.00 on the previous day. Passengers intending to travel on London Midland services are advised to check their website before travelling, as about 30 trains are expected to be cancelled each day.

Passengers are being advised to travel on the next available service. Where lengthy delays will result, fast trains will make additional stops where this is practicable.

For further details see the LM website.

The Laidlaw Report into what went wrong with the West Coast franchising process has published an interim report. Among the initial findings, it states that the DfT knew the revised evaluation process was flawed, but still went ahead with it. It also states that "the whole process was developed late, in a hurry, and without proper planning and consultation". Furthermore, the DfT knew it could face a legal challenge from an unsuccessful bidder, which is indeed what happened when Virgin Trains was told it was unsuccessful.

This is quite a damning indictment of the workings of the DfT. However, any changes to the franchising process will have to await outcome of the second enquiry into the franchising system being led by Richard Brown of Eurostar. This is due to report around the end of the year.

For further details see Patrick McLoughlin's statement to the House of Commons.

London Midland is continuing its test running of trains at 110 mph in advance of the planned improvement to services later this year. Trials to date are reported to have been successful.

Provided the trials continue to go well, and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) approves LM's track access application, the new services will start on Monday 10 December. At off-peak times, the Trent Valley services will be diverted between Rugby and Milton Keynes to run direct via Weedon, missing out Northampton. These trains will provide additional fast services between Rugby and London Euston taking just under an hour in both directions.

Also from the December timetable, additional peak hour trains will run between Euston and the Trent Valley stations. This was originally intended to start in September, but London Midland have now postponed this to coincide with the introduction of the new 110 mph service.

Further improvements are expected in the 2014 timetable when more new trains are delivered, and additional fast peak-time services can be introduced.

For further details see the LM News item. The proposed new timetable for Mondays to Fridays is available here.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the franchise deal with First Group to take over the running of train services on the West Coast main line has been cancelled. This is because of irregularities in the way the franchise bids were assessed and awarded. Three DfT officials have been suspended as a result.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that, in addition to the cancellation of the franchise deal with First Group, two inquiries would be set up, one to establish what went wrong with the awarding of the West Coast franchise, and another to look at the rail franchising system as a whole. As a result, work on all pending rail franchise deals (West Coast, Thameslink/Southern, Great Western and Essex Thameside) will be suspended. The team who will be investigating the franchising system are expected to report back "in December" and no further work will be done on any rail franchise until then.

This announcement means that First Group will not take over the running of services from 9 December. It is not yet known who will operate the West Coast services from that date. There are two possibilities: either Virgin Trains will continue to operate the services, or they will be taken over by the government's own subsidiary, Directly Operated Railways. Whatever happens, the timetables will continue basically unchanged for another year, pending the outcome of the timetable review being carried out by the West Coast Event Steering Group. Because of the two inquiries, it now seems unlikely that the new successful bidder will be announced before the Autumn of 2013.

For further details see the DfT press release.

The Transport Secretary Patrick Mcloughlin has announced that the DfT will ask Virgin Trains to continue running the West Coast Main Line "for about 9 to 13 months". To follow this an interim franchise will be awarded which is expected to run for about two years. This interim franchise is expected to take the form of a management contract which will continue to run services broadly as they are now. As Virgin Rail Group will continue in existence at least for the time being, they will be in a position to bid for this interim franchise if they so wish.

This arrangement will give the DfT time to draw up a new long term franchise specification for the West Coast, taking into account the recommendations of the inquiry into the franchising system which is currently taking place. The DfT will then send out the tender documents, receive bids and review these in line with the new parameters before awarding the franchise. This process envisages a delay of at least 2 years and 9 months from the original change date of December 9 2012, meaning that the new franchise is unlikely to be in place before the next General Election.

As a result of this delay in awarding the long term franchise, no improvements to train services or facilities are likely for at least three years.

For further details see the DfT press release and the Ministerial Statement.

Our next members' meeting will be on this Wednesday 14 November at Age UK Rugby,starting at 19.30 (doors open from 19.15). Rebecca Freeman, Acting Retail Manager for London Midland, will give a presentation on their Project 110 scheme. Under this project some trains will be accelerated to run at 110 mph giving faster journey times. This will be of particular benefit to Rugby which will gain an additional fast train to London each hour at off-peak times, completing the journey in 55-56 minutes and calling only at Milton Keynes. For further details of Project 110 see the LM News item.

All RRUG members are welcome to attend. Non-members can join at the door on payment of the £5 membership fee.

Passenger Focus have published a report on future passenger priorities for the West Coast Main Line, based on recent customer research they have carried out. One of the issues raised highlights that car passengers are more likely to switch to train if fares were cheaper and through services provided. This principle supports our aim for the restoration of through services between Rugby and the North West.

The full report can be seen by clicking here.

Passenger Focus is the watchdog set up and funded by the Department for Transport to represent the interests of rail and bus passengers. They have recently published their Annual Report & Accounts and presented these to the government.

Of particular note are the results of the National Passenger Survey which highlighted in particular passengers' concerns about fares (with comparisons with the situation in Europe) and public complaints about rail services. It is interesting but unsurprising to note that a survey relating to West Coast services showed that passengers prefer through trains to connections, which to some extent reinforces RRUG's campaign for restoration of through services to th North. Full details are available in the Annual Report & Accounts.

For further details of the surveys Passenger Focus have carried out into rail travel, see the rail passenger surveys .

Transport Minister Normal Baker has unveiled a Cycle Rail Toolkit which is a joint initiative between the Department for Transport and the Association of Train Operating Companies to improve facilities for cyclists who use rail and thereby encourage greater use of train services by cyclists.

The Toolkit's aim is that cycle access should double at individual stations over the next five years, with a national target of 5% of passengers cycling to stations. This should be achieved by specifying secure cycle storage at stations and extending the cycle hub concept in future rail franchises, and also through joint initiatives with local authorities to create segregated cycle routes.

The full toolkit is available here.

Regulated rail fares are set to rise by an average of 6.2% in January 2013. This follows an unexpectedly higher than average rise in the rate of inflation to 3.2% in July.

Regulated rail fares are saver tickets and season tickets. Increases in these fares are set by the government at the July RPI rate plus 3% and apply to fare increases the following January. While the rate of 6.2% has therefore been set by the government, this is an average figure and Train Operating Companies have some freedom to increase selected fares above this amount provided other fares are increased at a lower rate so that the overall average increase does not exceed 6.2%.

It remains to be seen what effect this will have on regulated fares from Rugby. Other fares, such as those for advance tickets and open tickets, are unregulated and Train Operating Companies have the freedom to set these at whatever they consider to be the most advantageous commercial rate.

Subsequent to the award of the franchise to First Group as outlined below, Virgin Trains have called for a judicial review into the franchise decision, which means the signing of the deal with First Group has been delayed. See separate news item.

The Department for Transport has announced First Group has been awarded the franchise to run passenger train services on the West Coast Main Line from 9 December. This means that Virgin Trains will cease to operate the service from that date.

First Group is proposing the following changes:

Train services

• From December 2016 there will be 11 new six-car electric trains for Birmingham - Glasgow services. The existing Voyagers will be cascaded to other routes (see below).
• New through services including London Euston to Blackpool from 2013 and from London to Shrewsbury and Bolton from 2016. The services to Blackpool and Bolton will be able to use electric trains once these lines are electrified. The Shrewsbury service will be Voyagers throughout as the line is not electrified beyond Wolverhampton.
• Journey time improvements between London and Glasgow are planned, by elimination of the Warrington and Wigan stops. These stations will be covered by a new Euston to Preston service, calling at Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe (possibly), Warrington and Wigan.

• Catering facilities will continue to be provided on 90% of services. An "enhanced at-seat service" will be provided - whether this means a trolley service instead of the shop remains to be seen.

• Standard Anytime fares will be reduced by an average of 15% over the first two years of the franchise.
• ITSO based smart ticketing will be introduced. ITSO is the system used for the National Concessionary Bus Pass Scheme. It is not the same as, nor is it currently compatible with, the Oyster cards used by Transport for London, although an "ITSO on Oyster" project group is currently working on this.

• At least £22m will be spent on a station investment programme. This will include the provision of ticket gates at 21 stations. It is not known at present whether this will include Rugby.

Patrick McLoughlin, the new Transport Secretary, has confirmed the Department for Transport (DfT) still intends to sign the West Coast franchise deal with First Group as soon as this is legally possible.

Virgin Trains have called for a judicial review into the franchise decision, which means the DfT will not be able to sign the contract until a High Court judge decides whether there is a case to answer. If the judge decides against this, then the deal is expected to be signed shortly. However, if there is to be a full judicial review, then the contract cannot be signed until this is completed, which could mean that the target date for First Group to take over (9th December) will not be met.

If there is a delay in the start of the new franchise, the DfT has stated that its own subsidiary Directly Operated Railways will take over as a short term measure, so that Virgin Trains will cease to operate the service after 8 December in any event.

For further details see the BBC news item .

The National Rail Conditions of Carriage, which set out the conditions under which tickets are issued and their use, have been rewritten and reissued. In particular, it has been made clear that you cannot travel in First Class accommodation with a Standard Class ticket unless the on-train staff give you permission. This applies even if all Standard Class seats are taken. Although Train Managers are allowed to use their discretion and declassify some First Class seats when Standard Class is full, they will not do this if the First Class accommodation is also full or likely to become full later in the journey.

This means therefore that if you are travelling on a Standard Class ticket and you sit in First Class for whatever reason, you will be changed the difference between the two fares, or a penalty fare where appropriate, unless the Train Manager has authorised this before you make the move.

The Conditions of Carriage also cover the arrangements for travelling with a combination of tickets. These arrangements have not changed and if you do this the train must call at the station where you change from one ticket to another. The only exception is when one of the tickets is a season ticket when this requirement does not apply.

Full details are shown in the new edition of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. Section 39 covers travelling in First Class accommodation with a Standard Class ticket, while section 19 covers the use of a combination of tickets.

Following discussions with the Olympic Delivery Authority, Network Rail have announced specimen times for later trains from London during the Olympics next year.

Additional late trains will run at 01.00 from Euston to Liverpool and at 00.10 and 01.10 from Euston to Birmingham, all of which will call at Rugby. These trains will only run when there are Olympic events at the main venues in London, and not at other times.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has written to Alliance Rail advising that it has suspended its review of Alliance Rail's application to run train services on the West Coast Main Line. This application, if approved, would see Alliance Rail running trains from London Euston via the West Coast Main Line to West Yorkshire, Blackpool and the Cumbrian Coast. Some of these trains would have called at Rugby.

The reason given for suspending the review is that until the work of the West Coast Event Steering Group on the proposed West Coast timetable from December 2013 is complete it will not be possible to identify whether or not there would be any suitable paths for Alliance Rail's proposed services.

For further details see ORR's letter to Alliance Rail.

RRUG's media representative Jerry Thorne has been interviewed by Rugby FM radio about the e-petition against First Group's takeover of the West Coast Main Line franchise. You can hear this interview on the station's morning news bulletins next Tuesday (28th August) at 07.00, 08.00 and 09.00. (Rugby FM frequency = 107.1)

The government has announced a review of rail fares. This will look at all aspects of the ticketing system, including types and availability of ticket, peak and off-peak time restrictions and variable priced season tickets. To facilitate these changes, smartcard ticketing will be rolled out across the network using a system which is similar to the Oyster card used in London. Currently this system, which is known as ITSO, is not compatible with Oyster but under a project known as "ITSO on Prestige" this issue will be addressed.

The report summarises the next steps as follows:

• Proceed with rolling out smart ticketing technology and work with train operators and local/regional transport authorities to develop new flexible and more tailored ticket types;
  
• Explore in more detail the scope for using ticket pricing and restrictions to smooth demand in order to make more efficient use of capacity (including but not limited to the commuter peak);
  
• Consider options for addressing the issues identified in relation to time restrictions; terms and conditions of Advance tickets; the case for reducing any significant regional imbalance in fares levels;
  
• Encourage operators to improve ticket machine and online sales channels and, as ticket-buying habits change, to consider how best to deploy their station staff to provide the most benefit to passengers while reducing costs and providing a safe environment; consider the process operators are required to follow to make changes to ticket office opening hours; and consider how the number and range of outlets selling train tickets could be radically expanded.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has issued the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the new West Coast franchise which will replace the existing Virgin Trains franchise and run from 9 December 2012 to March 2026. There will then be an option to extend the franchise for up to a further 20 months. The franchise will therefore end by the expected completion date of the new high speed line HS2. The four shortlisted bidders have until 1st May to prepare and submit their bids. These are:

• Abellio InterCity West Coast Limited (NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen)
• First West Coast Limited (FirstGroup plc)
• Keolis / SNCF West Coast Limited (Keolis SA and SNCF)
• Virgin Trains Limited (Virgin Group Holdings Limited).

• there must be a minimum of 329 trains per week to and from London (this includes both directions)
• of these there must be at least 45 on each Monday to Friday, 34 on Saturdays and 37 on Sundays
• no times of first and last trains are specified for Rugby. However, the first and last times for Birmingham trains are based on today's timings.

The Department for Trasnsport has issued a control paper setting out its vision for the future of the railways. This is in response to the report into the industry by Sir Roy McNulty which was published last year, and incorporates many of the recommendations made in that report. The aim is to recue the annual deficit on the railways by £3.5 billion, while at the same time ending what the government calls "inflation-busting fare rises".

Some of the main issues include:

• a review of the existing fares system (see separate item)
• decentralisation of some decision-making to local control (if implemented this would see an end to the existing micro-management of the industry by the DfT)
• a review of the regulatory processes
• longer and more loosely specified franchises for Train Operating Companies
• operating and maintainance efficiencies by Train Operating Companies and Network Rail respectively.

A summary of of fares and miscellaneous charges affecting Rugby rail users as at January 2008, together with comparisons of previous years, is now available.

Please see Fares and charges - January 2008

It is widely expected that First Group will take over the franchise for Inter City services on the West Coast main line when the existing franchise expires in December. This would see the end of Virgin Trains.

Several reports in the press have stated that First Group is believed to have bid £1 billion more for the franchise than Virgin. We also understand that Chancellor George Osborne has written to Justine Greening stating that all future rail franchises must be awarded to the bidder providing the highest rate of return, otherwise money for HS2 will be cut. This all points to First Group being appointed to take over from Virgin when the DfT announces the successful bidder for the West Coast franchise later this month.

This will not necessarily be good news for rail passengers. If First Group take the same approach as they did when they took over Great Western, it is likely that the Pendolinos will be reconfigured to cram more seats in and the shop will disappear. It is possible the free meal service for First Class passengers could also disappear.

For further information see news items from The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times.

The stopping service provided by London Midland on the Trent Valley line has, until now, been restricted by the Moderation of Competition rules. This means that there are no evening peak trains and the Sunday service has been only every two hours. This is to avoid any possible abstraction of revenue from the Virgin services. With the relaxation of the Moderation of Competition rules, it is now possible to run trains which previously were not permitted.

The first phase of these improvements means that from the start of the Summer timetable on 14 May the Sunday service has been increased to run every hour.

From 10 September, improvements will be made to the Monday to Friday timetable. Additional evening services on the Trent Valley line will run from Euston at 16.46, 17.24 and 20.13, these leaving Rugby at 18.04, 19.05 and 21.45 respectively. Additional trains will also run from Crewe at 19.33 and 20.39, calling Rugby at 21.17 and 22.20 (the latter to Northampton only).

Further improvements are planned to this service from December, when it is hoped LM's "Project 110" service will be implemented (see separate news item).

In December 2011 the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) issued a statement that it was "minded to" approve London Midland's application for services at 110 mph on the West Coast Main Line. This letter of intent allowed the additional class 350 trains to be ordered (which has now been done) but stated that certain outstanding items would need to be resolved before final approval could be given.

London Midland has now written to the ORR stating that it believes these issues, which mainly relate to agreeing paths with Network Rail and modifications to equipment on the trains have now been resolved. LM's letter to the ORR is available here.

A beneifit of the further timetable work is that it now appears possible that most trains in both directions would use the Weedon route between Rugby and Milton Keynes, giving journey times of under an hour between Rugby and Euston. The new proposed timetable for Mondays to Fridays is available here.

The March 2012 newsletter has been published and is available from the Newsletter section of this website.

Alliance Rail has resubmitted its open access track access application for rights to operate services on the West Coasdt Main Line.

The revised proposals would see services from Euston to Leeds, Bradford, Blackpool North and Cumbrian Coast line stations. Although Rugby is not included as a stop in the regular calling pattern for these services, it is shown as an additional stop, implying that at least some trains would call. This would go some way to restoring through services between Rugby and the North West, with the possibility of one or two through services to West Yorkshire as well. The services would be operated by new-build rolling stock with 125 mph enhanced permissible speed capabilities (i.e. tilt operation), and would start in December 2014.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) will now consider this application along with others for the West Coast Main Line, and will make its decision in due course.

For further information see the Alliance Rail application form and the Draft track access contract.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has stated that it is "minded to approve" London Midland's application for 110 mph paths on the West Coast Main Line. If approved, this would bring faster LM trains between London, Rugby and the Trent Valley stations.

The ORR has said that, having been "minded to approve" the application, this is subject to LM being able to meet certain conditions. These are mainly performance-related issues, and the confirmation that the technical requirements for the rolling stock to run at 110 mph can be met. For full details see ORR's letter of intent to London Midland .

Subject to LM being able to satisfy these conditions, and no other "show stoppers" arising in the meantime, it therefore seems likely that stage 1 of LM's Project 110 scheme will be approved for implementation from the December 2012 timetable change. Implementation of stage 2, which would provide faster trains at peak times, is dependent on new rolling stock and the recast of the West Coast Main Line timetable which is planned for 2014.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed an order for 10 new class 350 trains for London Midland. Transpennine Express will also get 10 similar trains as part of the same order to enable them to introduce electric services between Manchester and Scotland from December 2013.

The new class 350s will have 110 mph capability. Along with some of the existing fleet which will be modified for 110 mph running, this will allow London Midland to introduce more and faster trains between London, Rugby, the West Midlands and Crewe under their 'Project 110' scheme.

The Track Access Application (TAA) for 110 mph running has been with the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for approval since November and its approval is awaited. In December the ORR issued a "minded to" statement saying they were minded to approve the application, which allowed LM to order the new trains required for this. Now that this order has been placed, acceptance of the TAA is awaited which would London Midland can progress its Project 110 scheme to fruition.

For further details see the DfT press release.

RRUG has responded to the stakeholder consultation on the proposed High Speed line (HS2). While Rugby will not be directly affected by the new high speed line, we believe that the diversion of services to HS2 should provide sufficient capacity on the existing West Coast main line for the restoration of a regular service between Rugby and the North West. We have also stated that the existing level of service, both in frequency and journey time, to London should be maintained, and that service disruption during the rebuilding of Euston station should be kept to a minimum.

Our full response is available in the Correspondence section of the members' area of the website.

RRUG has sent a formal response to London Midland about their "Project 110", which would see train speeds increased to 110 mph on part of the route.

Whilst welcoming the proposed changes as services to Milton Keynes and London would be improved, we have expressed concern that, because of revised connections at Stafford / Stoke-on-Trent, journey times from Rugby to Liverpool and Manchester would be increased.

RRUG members can see the full response in the Correspondence section of the members' area of the website.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a grant of £9.8 million towards the cost of upgrading the Coventry - Nuneaton rail service. The remainder of the cost will be provided by local authorities.

The scheme involves two new stations, one to serve the Ricoh arena in Coventry and the other at Bermuda Park. Bedworth station will have longer platforms, and a new bay platform for this service will be built adjacent to the west end of platform 1 in Coventry. When complete, trains will run every half hour on this line, with the possibility of enhanced servcies during major events at the Ricoh stadium.

Although this will not directly affect rail services from Rugby, as a result of this scheme passengers will be able to travel by rail from Rugby to events at the Ricoh stadium with one change at Coventry.

For further details see the DfT press release.

The Transport Secretary Justune Greening has announced that the new high speed line known as HS2 is to go ahead. The first phase of the line will link London Euston with Birmingham, with journey times reduced to 49 minutes, a saving of about 35 minutes on existing timings. As part of this first phase, a link will also be built to the existing high speed line (HS1) which runs from St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel. A second phase would extend HS2 to Leeds and Manchester. However, work will not start before 2016 and the earliest date for completion of the first phase would be 2026.

Whilst this new line will have no direct effect on Rugby, it is expected to free up capacity on the West Coast Main Line for additional services. RRUG will in due course be campaigning for these additional trains to restore a regular through service between Rugby and the North West, while retaining the existing level of service to both London and Birmingham.

As is well known, this is a contentious project with strong arguments being made both for and against it. To address some of the environmental concerns, Justine Greening has announced there will be extra sections of tunnelling in the most environmentally sensitive areas, including Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire. However, it is still possible the scheme could be stopped if opposition groups mount a successful legal challenge by calling for a judicial review.

Further details are available from the DfT press release.

Figures from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) compare station usage over the period 2006/7 to 2009/10 for Warwickshire. Click here to view (Rugby is highlighted for easy reference).

Warwickshire County Council have announced that Mill Road tunnel will close for approximately five days at the end of March for renewal of street lighting. It is intended that the tunnel will be closed between 09.00 and 16.00 each day from Monday 26 March to Friday 30 March, subject to satisfactory progress of the work.

All road users travelling to and from the station at these times who would normally go through the Mill Road tunnel will therefore have to allow extra time for their journeys. Motorists from the town centre direction wishing to access the Virgin Trains multi-storey car park or the Ponder car park will have to follow the diversion via Clifton Road and Butlers Leap. Those coming from the Brownsover direction who wish to use the car parks on the south side of the station will have to follow this diversion in reverse.

For further details see the Warwickshire County Council Notice.

Stagecoach bus services 4 and 12 will also follow the diversion between 09.00 and 16.00 each day, meaning there will be no regular bus service to the station during the closure. For further details of the bus changes, see Stagecoach travel news.

Platform 6 at Rugby station is only just long enough for a 9-car Virgin Pendolino. This means there could be a potential problem when some of the Pendolinos are lengthened to 11 cars.

This will be overcome by using Selective Door Opening (SDO) which will ensure any door which is not at a platform cannot be opened. SDO will keep locked the doors on the last two coaches of an 11-car train when the train arrives at Rugby platform 6. This means that passengers will not be able to open any door which is not at a platform. SDO works in conjunction with trackside ballises, so a train will "know where it is" and lock the doors on the rear two cars automatically. On-board announcements will be made advising passengers in the rear two coaches to move forward if they want to alight.

To remind the driver that Selective Door Operation is in use, "SDO" signs have now been erected at both ends of platform 6 beneath the 9/11 car stop boards.

All other platforms at Rugby station are long enough for 11 car trains.

See RRUG's own committee member Jerry Thorne on BBC Panorama programme about rail fares which was broadcast on BBC1 on Monday 23 January.

London Midland has selected Siemens PLC as 'preferred bidder' for approximately 8 new class 350 trains. If ordered, they would be used to enhance capacity on some of London Midland's busiest services. The order is subject to the Department for Transport reviewing and accepting a business case for the purchase of these trains.

It is possible that these trains could have 110 mph capability, rather than the current maximum speed of 100 mph. London Midland, in conjunction with Network Rail, are to carry out tests with existing class 350 trains to see what effect running at this speed would have on the overhead line equipment (OLE) and the roof-mounted pantographs which collect the power from the OLE. If these tests are satisfactory, the new trains could be permitted to run at the higher speed.

These new trains would be part of an order which would also include about 10 trains for Transpennine Express, which will require electric trains for its services between Manchester and Scotland once the first stage of the Lancashire electrification project is completed.

For further details see the London Midland news item.

The National Rail timetable changed on Sunday 11 December. There are no changes to either the Rugby - Birmingham or Rugby - London services, except for some minor adjustments of a minute or two to the Birmingham service at off-peak times.

A summary of peak time trains to both Birmingham and London is available on the Timetables section of the website. For further details see the National Rail Journey Planner .

The Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement that regulated fares would be capped at RPI + 1% this January. This is a reduction from the previously advised rate of RPI +3%, which will now apply to the January 2013 and 2014 fare rises only. For further details see the ATOC press release.

Details of the new annual season ticket rates to London and Birmingham which apply from 1st January are as follows:

Rugby to London terminals (i.e. Euston)
valid on all trains Standard class £7,044 First class £11,540

There are cheaper fares to London terminals valid on London Midland trains only:
Standard class £5,080 First class £7,876

Rugby to Underground zones 1 - 6 (i.e. including the tube)
valid on all trains Standard class £7,468 First class £12,244

Rugby to Birmingham stations (i.e. New Street)
valid on Virgin Trains only Standard class £956 First class £1,468

Rugby to Birmingham stations (i.e. New Street)
valid on all trains Standard class £1,324 First class £2,056

The existing fares will apply only to season tickets dated to start on or before before 1st January 2012. The new fares will apply to all tickets dated to start from 2nd January, irrespective of the date on which they are bought.

Season ticket rates for other journeys can be calculated using the National Rail season ticket calculator.

London Midland have sent us the following regarding the possible effect of adverse weather conditions over the next few days and their proposed mitigation measures:

"As I'm sure you will have seen from the weather forecasts, we are expecting another bout of snow and freezing conditions between now and the weekend. I want to assure everyone that we have got all our plans in place, and our teams will be out gritting platforms, checking heating systems, and carrying out 'frost precautions' (making sure the trains don't freeze up overnight).

At the moment we don't anticipate the weather being severe enough for us to need to put our contingency timetable into place, but please be assured we'll be doing everything we can behind the scenes to make sure we keep our services running, and get our customers to their destinations.

If you, or anyone you know, is travelling over the next few days it's probably a good idea to double check that everything is running to plan before setting off on your journey. You can find real-time information about our services from National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50, or from our website www.londonmidland.com We also have our iphone app, and twitter (@londonmidland) to provide you with information. We'll be doing our best to make your journeys safe and reliable, but please remember to take extra care in wintry conditions."

London Midland are developing proposals dubbed "Project 110" which would see the maximum speed of some of their trains on the West Coast Main Line increased from 100 mph to 110 mph. If the project is successful, this would see the Trent Valley trains diverted to run via Weedon (missing out Northampton) and reaching Rugby in 56 minutes from Euston with a stop at Milton Keynes (sadly it would be slower in the other direction). Services between Euston and Northampton would also be speeded up.

This project is subject to the usual Track Access Agreement, for which the necessary track access application has been submitted.

Tests are currently being carried out with a class 350 train to see what effect running at this increased speed would have on the train and Network Rail's infrastructure. It is expected the following on-train equipment would need to be modified:

• traction motors
• pantographs
• AWS equipment.

Virgin Trains have won an 8 month extension to their franchise, which will see them continue to operate West Coast services until 9 December 2012. This extension will mean that Virgin will be responsible for the commissioning of the new Pendolino vehicles which will lengthen some trains to 11 cars, and also introduce four new 11 car trains.

The DfT has set tough targets which Stagecoach group (who own 49% of Virgin Trains) have described as "challenging". Under the agreement, Virgin will qualify for 80% revenue support during the extension period, but if revenues exceed the DfT's target then the Department would collect 80% of the excess. For further details see the DfT press relaese.

Virgin Trains are one of four bidders shortlisted to run the service under a new franchise from December 2012, the others being Keolis, First Group and Abellio (Dutch Railways).

London Midland have withdrawn all on-train catering with effect from Saturday 27 August. A limited catering facility has been provided on some of their longer distance trains, but they have now decided this is not viable.

London Midland say that many of their services wait for around 10 minutes at Northampton and Stafford, where passengers will be able to buy refreshments from the catering outlets on the stations.

For further details see the London Mildand website announcement.

The Department for Transport (DfT) Rail Group has announced that four bidders have been shortlisted for the new West Coast franchise which starts in April 2012.

These are:

• Abellio InterCity West Coast Limited (NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen)
  
• First West Coast Limited (FirstGroup plc)
  
• Keolis / SNCF West Coast Limited (Keolis SA and SNCF)
  
• Virgin Trains Limited (Virgin Group Holdings Limited).

The West Coast Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) has now been published, and does give some hope of the restoration of through services between Rugby and the North West from 2013.

In the draft RUS there was a proposal (option JT1.2) for the Euston - Glasgow services to omit calls at some of the Lancashire stations to speed up journey times. An additional hourly Euston - Preston (or Blackpool) service would be provided to compensate for the loss of calls at Warrington and Wigan. This additional service would not have called at Rugby. It would appear that the proposal has now been modified so that this additional service service should now call at Rugby or Nuneaton on alternate hours, thus providing both these stations with a through train every two hours to the North West. Whilst it is not possible to provide a workable path for this service in the existing timetable, the RUS does recommend that this option is taken into consideration by the timetable working group responsible for the 2013 timetable.

It is pleasing to see that Network Rail has taken notice of both RRUG's response and that of Passenger Focus, which highlighted the lack of services between Rugby and the North West as a gap in service provision which the RUS needed to address. It is to be hoped the timetable working group are able to incorporate this revised proposal into the 2013 timetable, thereby restoring services to the North West for which RRUG have been campaigning ever since their withdrawal in 2008.

The full RUS can be downloaded here.

The following information may be out of date following the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn Statement, in which he announced that regulated rail fares (which include season tickets) are to be capped at RPI plus 1% (i.e. 6%) in January. Further details will be given when known.

Details of the new fares from 2 January 2012 have been announced. The new season ticket rates from Rugby to London and Birmingham are shown below.

Rugby to London terminals (i.e. Euston)
valid on all trains
Standard class £7,172
First class £11,540

There are cheaper fares to London terminals valid on London Midland trains only:
Standard class £5,080
First class £7,876

Rugby to Underground zone 1 (i.e. including the tube)
valid on all trains
Standard class £7,608
First class £12,244

Rugby to Birmingham stations (i.e. New Street)
valid on Virgin Trains only
Standard class £956
First class £1,468

Rugby to Birmingham stations (i.e. New Street)
valid on all trains
Standard class £1,348
First class £2,092

Other season ticket rates are available from the National Rail season ticket calculator . For the new fares be sure to select a start date after 2nd January 2012.

Alliance Rail has resubmitted proposals for track access rights to operate train services on the West Coast main line.

Their original proposal, which was rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) earlier this year, would have seen new services from London Euston to stations in West Yorkshire, Blackpool and the Cumbrian Coast starting in April 2012, when the Moderation of Competition on the West Coast Main Line is due to end. None of these new services would have called at Rugby.

However, Alliance Rail is now preparing new applications for services starting with the December 2013 timetable. One application is for services between Euston and stations in West Yorkshire, and the other for services between Euston, Blackpool and the Cumbrian Coast. The latter application is not as yet a firm proposal because further timetabling work with Network Rail will be necessary to identify whether suitable paths would be available.

Following detailed timetabling work, it has been identfied that some of these proposed new services wil need to be overtaken en route by faster trains operated by the new West Coast franchisee. A suitable place where this could happen has been identified as Rugby, so it is possible that some of the new services could now call here.

Full details of the proposed application are available in the Alliance Rail consultation document.

There are likely to be other calls for paths on the limited spare capacity on the West Coast Main line from December 2013, and it remains to be seen which of the many expected proposals will eventually succeed. However this proposal does give further hope that some through services between Rugby and the North West will eventually be reintroduced.

London Midland are now running an additional train between Northampton, Rugby and Birmingham each hour during off-peak times on Mondays to Fridays and for most of the day on Saturdays. This started on Monday 5th September.

The additional trains departs from Rugby for Birmingham at xx.47 minutes past the hour, and from Birmingham to Rugby (and Northampton) at xx.13 minutes past the hour. However, the xx.47 from Rugby is overtaken at Coventry by the xx.51 Virgin train at Coventry so does not provide an effective service. These additional trains call at more stations between Coventry and Birmingham than the existing service, and are therefore slower. Nevertheless these changes are to be welcomed, particularly in the southbound direction as the new xx.13 from Birmingham will fill the existing 40 minute gap in services to Rugby.

These new trains are in most cases be linked with existing Northampton - Euston trains, thereby providing additional though trains between Rugby, Milton Keynes Central and intermediate stations to Watford.

A summary of the revised peak time service to Birmingham is available on the timetable page of this website, and the full service is shown on the National Rail Journey Planner.

A new bus link is now running from Central Park to Rugby station.

New route 12 operates hourly on Mondays to Saturdays from Central Park via Tesco and the new college to Rugby station, then continuing via the town centre and Dunchurch to Daventry and Long Buckby. This is in part a replacement for the Geoff Amos service to Daventry and Banbury, which has ceased to operate.

Aoart from the new link mentioned above, this will also provide an additional service between the station and the town centre, in both directions.

A timetable for this new service is available here.

The latest RRUG newsletter, dated October 2011, has been published. It includes details of:

• Improved service to Birningham
  
• Our continuing campaign for the restoration of through services to the North West
  
• Our response to consultation on HS2
  
• Details of the members' meeting on 24 November
  
• A report on the group's Annual General Meeting
  

We have sent a detailed response to the West Coast franchise consultation document to the Department for Transport (DfT). Our main issues have been the restoration of regular through services to the North West, and later trains from London on a Saturday night. We also copied this response to our MP Mark Pawsey, who has replied by expressing support of these aims.

For further details see the Correspondence section of the members' area of this website under the heading "Correspondence re franchises".

The long-awaited report into a review of the railways by Sir Roy McNulty has been published. It is no surprise that the investigation has highlighted that Briatin's railways are the most expensive in Europe, and identifies potential savings of £1 billion per year by 2019.

While much of the recommendations relate to the structure of the industry, working practises and staffing, the change most likely to affect passengers is a review of the fares structure. The report recommends there should be no substantial increases in fares, but rather the cost of peak and off-peak travel should be rebalanced. The transport secretary Phillip Hammond has hinted that there could be more time bands at the fringes of the peaks rather than the sudden drop in fares as soon as the peak times are over. This idea could, however, complicate the fares structure even further and would seem to contradict Sir Roy's view that the fares system is already too complicated.

Other recommendations include:

• there should be no line closures
  
• franchising should be reformed
  
• "devolution and decentralisation" within Network Rail, which manages the railway infrastructure
• a rail delivery group should be set up to "lead a substantial programme of change".

London Midland have submitted a proposal to the Department for Transport (DfT) to alter the opening times of the ticket offices at 86 of its stations, and to close 9 of them completely, including Cheddington and Adderley Park on the Euston - Birmingham route. These proposals do not affect Rugby because it is operated by Virgin Trains.

For further details see the special edition of the LM newsletter.

To enable the recommendations on franchising made in the McNulty Report (see separate item) to be incorporated into the new West Coast franchise, The DfT has announced that the re-letting of this franchise will be delayed from April 2012 to December 2012. The department is currently in discussion with Virgin Trains about a possible extension to their franchise, but if this does not prove possible then the goverment-owned Directly Operated Railways will take over and operate the services during this period. See towards the end of the DfT press release on the McNulty Report. for this announcment.

The Department for Transport will now consult with interested parties on the draft Invitation to Tender documents, which are available by clicking here.

At a recent House of Commons debate about the proposed new high speed rail line, our MP Mark Pawsey spoke up about the effect this would have on rail servcies at Rugby.

After the debate, Mark said “Despite the fact that the plans for HS2 do not affect the Rugby constituency directly in that the new line will not pass through it, my concern was the possible affect on current services offered from Rugby Station. Having brought this to the attention of the Minister, I am pleased that in her response she confirmed her view that the development of the new line should result in a better service available to Rail Users in Rugby.”

For full details see the press release.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has rejected all track access applications for additional services on the West Coast Main Line from April 2012. This means not only the open access applications from Grand Central and Alliance Rail but also the DfT proposal to run an additional train from Euston to the North West each hour at off-peak times.

Also rejected is London Midland's application to extend their Euston - Rugby - Crewe service to Liverpool, and to divert one of the Birmingham - Liverpool services to Preston. This latter proposal would have relieved the overcrowding on Virgin services between Birmingham and Lancashire stations, but it would seem this is not to be.

ORR have suggested that a completely recast timetable should be prepared to operate on the West Coast Main Line from 2013, when it might be possible to accommodate some of the proposed additional services. However, one of the reasons for refusing the additional services was the proposed North West electrification, although it has to be said that this would not affect the WCML itself, but only the proposed services to Blackpool.

Full details are shown in ORR's letter re track access applications on the West Coast Main Line .

The Summer timetable starts on Sunday 22 May.

There is little change to services to and from Rugby. On the Birmingham line, London Midland trains will generally leave 1 minute later from Rugby, and there are some minor timing changes to late night trains from Euston.

On Summer Saturdays only (16 July to 10 September), there is a new through train from Edinburgh to Rugby via Birmingham. It leaves Edinburgh at 14.52 and arrives Rugby at 19.42. However, there is no corresponding service in the reverse direction.

A summary of peak services to Birmingham and London is on the Current timetable page of this website, and for full details see the National Rail journey planner.

The latest RRUG newsletter has now been published. It contains details of the group's involvement in the re-letting of the West Coast franchise and the proposed radio station development. It is available by clicking here .

Following the withdrawal of funding by Warwickshire County Council, most evening bus services in Rugby will be withdrawn from Monday 20 June. In general, all buses running after 20.00 will be withdrawn, although there will be some later buses on Friday and Saturday nights only.

This means that the last bus from Rugby station to the Town Centre (and Bilton) will be at 19.40 on Mondays to Thursdays, and at 22.40 on Fridays and Saturdays.

For further details see the Stagecoach bus website.

Virgin Trains have agreed to operate the new Pendolino from July this year. They had originally tied in the use of any additional trains to an extension to their franchise, but have now agreed to operate this new train anyway. However the train will operate as a 9-car set so as to be compatible with the existing trains, and not the full 11-car set as delivered. There are also problems with some platforms which will need to be extended before 11 car trains can call at them.

It is intended to use this additional train on Birmingham - Glasgow workings to ease overcrowding on some of the Voyagers. Its introduction should also ease the rolling stock situation a little and hopefully lead to less cancellations due to no available trains.

The long running dispute between London Midland and the driver's union ASLEF concerning overtime payments has now been resolved. A negotiated settlement has been reached and the ASLEF membership recommended to accept the offer.

As a result, normal train services have now been resumed. This means that not only has a normal service been restored on Sundays, but the ad hoc cancellations that have been occurring in the week should also be a thing of the past.

Fotr further details see the London Midland press release .

As a result of the ASLEF union not renewing an overtime agreement with London Midland, there are cancellations to some London Midland train services.

The effect on services and trains which are cancelled will vary from day to day. Where a train is cancelled, the next available London Midland service on that route may make additional calls to compensate where necessary.

For furher details, including the schedule of trains to be cancelled, see the London Midland bulletin.

asfd

Once again there will be no London Midland train services from Rugby this Sunday, 10th April. This is due to an ongoing overtime dispute with the ASLEF trade union.

A connecting bus service will run between Rugby and Northampton, where there will be connections into an hourly train servfice to and from London Euston calling at all stations except Wolverton and Cheddington. Passengers for Coventry and Birmingham should use Virgin Trains services.

There will also be some cancellations to early morning trains on Monday 11th April due to trains and staff being out of position.

For further details see the London Midland website and the LM statement of 31 March .

London Midland have submitted a track access application to improve services on the Birmingham - Rugby - Northampton route during off-peak times on Mondays to Fridays, and for most of the day on Saturdays, starting with the subsiduary timetable change date in May 2011.

Under this proposal, the existing local service which runs once each hour between Birmingham and Coventry would be extended to Northampton. This would give Rugby a more regular service of 3 stopping trains (LM) and one fast (Virgin) train to and from Birmingham each hour during Monday to Friday off-peak times and on Saturdays. It would also provide one additional train each hour between Rugby and Northampton at the same times. At Northampton, most of the additional trains would be integrated into the Euston - Northampton service, to save on reversing and shunt moves at that location. This would give some additional through trains between Rugby and Milton Keynes. Pathing constraints mean the improved service will not be possible during peak hours.

For full details of the application see the LM track access application.

The proposal has been submitted to Network Rail for consideration. After this, it will be forwarded to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) who will decide whether or not to approve it. We will therefore have to wait a while to see whether this proposal is accepted, but if so this would mean an improved train service for Rugby.

Due to the continuing dispute with the ASLEF union concerning an overtime agreement, there will once again be no London Midland train services operating from Rugby station this Sunday, 27th March. There will, however, be a bus service between Rugby and Northampton. London Midland have advised passengers not to travel unless their journey is absolutely necessary. On Monday 28th March there will be some early moring cancellations due to trains being out of position.

For further details see the London Midland website.

London Midland have issued a statement dated 24 March and also produced a special edition of the LM newsletter explaining the situation. Although this latter document refers to Sunday 14 March, the information is still relevant to 27th March.

London Midland have announced that there will be no increase in unregulated fares on their services in the January fares increase. Regulated fares, including season tickets, will rise by 5.8% in line with the government's formula.

A selection of annual season ticket rates from 12 December on both Virgin and London Midland servcies is available in the Fares & Ticketing section of our useful information page.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has ignored our representations about services to the North West in its proposed timetable which will operate on the West Coast main line (WCML) from April 2012.

When the franchise currently held by Virgin Trains expires, the DfT proposes that the successful bidder for the new franchise will use the additional Pendolinos to provide an additional train each hour between Euston and either Blackpool North or Lancaster. This will call at Milton Keynes, Warrington, Wigan and Preston. It will then allow the existing Glasgow trains to become non-stop from Euston to Preston, calling next at either Oxenholme or Penrith, thereby speeding up the service to Glasgow. This means that, disappointingly, there will still be no regular service from Rugby to the North West despite the provision of four extra trains. It also means that the DfT application is at variance with the ORR's own proposal for a service which would serve intermediate stations including Rugby.

This information has been obtained from a Track Access Application the DfT has submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation for approval. For details of the application see the track access application form , and for the service specification, including frequency and calling points, see the section 5 document .

The ORR must now consider the Dft's application along with those of aspiring "open access" operators seeking paths on the WCML, before reaching a decision on the services that will eventually operate.

We have now submitted a response to the ORR expressing our concerns for DfT's failure to fill the gap in service provision on the West Coast Main Line as far as Rugby is concerned. Please see under "Correspondence re services to the North" in the Correspondance section of the Members area of this website.

London Midland application

London Midland have submitted a Supplementary Track Access Application to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to run additional trains on the Trent Valley line from May 2012.

If accepted, additional later trains will run serving stations between Rugby, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe on Mondays to Fridays, and there would be an enhanced service on Sundays. Most of these will be an extension of existing services which currently run between Euston and Northampton or Rugby. At present operation of additional trains is restricted by the Moderation of Campetition rules which protect the Virgin franchise, but these restrictions are being removed from the end of the franchise on April 2012. For full details see the London Midland track access application. A useful spin-off from this proposal would see 3 trains an hour between Northampton, Rugby and Birmingham at off-peak times on Monday to Friday and for most of the day on Saturdays. The draft timetable is available as an Appendix to the London Midland Business Case.

As part of a separate application, it is also proposed that the above services will be extended to Liverpool Lime Street, in place of one of the twice-hourly Birmingham - Liverpool trains which would be diverted instead to Preston calling at Hartford, Warrington and Wigan.

Although it is hoped to start these services in May 2012, this may have to be postponed to December of that year as planning for the Olympics might mean there will be no Subsiduary Change Date for timetables in May 2012. This is yet to be decided by the railway industry.

Open access applications

Open access operators Alliance Rail and Grand Central have also applied to operate services on the West Coast main line, but neither of these are proposed to call at Rugby. If approved, the Alliance Rail trains would be new bi-mode (electric/diesel) trains running between Euston, West Yorkshire and Cumbria, and Grand Central would run four trains per day between Euston and Blackpool using locomotive hauled stock. For full details see the Alliance Rail track access application. and the Grand Central track access application.

All these applications follow a request from ORR for potential operators to submit their service proposals for the West Coast main line to operate from Spring 2012. The application by the Department for Transport (DfT) for services on the West Coast Main Line (see separate news item) will be considered along with these proposals, and the ORR will make a decision on which services will run in due course.

The Winter timetable starts on Sunday 12 December 2010.

Services to and from Rugby remain virtually unaltered, except for:
* a few minor retimings to some peak trains between Rugby and London
* the 18.46 Fridays only service from Euston will now have an official stop at Rugby.

For details of peak time train services from Rugby to London and Birmingham, see the Timetable section of this website.

Rail travellers to Birmingham will be interested to know that the major redevelopment of Birmingham New Street will still go ahead after the government's spending review. The associated extension of Midland Metro from Snow Hill through the streets of Birmingham to New Street will also go ahead, along with some new trams.

It has also been announced that the government will continue with its plans for a high speed rail link between London, the Midlands, Manchester and Leeds, with consultation expected to start next year.

New and cascaded rolling stock proposals are currently on hold pending a re-evaluation of the Intercity Express Project (IEP), except where the orders have already been placed. The order for additional and lengthened Pendolino trains should therefore still go ahead.

For further details see the Transport Spending Review Press Notice.

The latest draft of the Warwickshire Local Transport Plan shows aspirations for many of the things RRUG has been campaigning for. These include:
* Restoration of regular through servcies to the North
* Two fast trains per hour throughout the day between Rugby and London
* Restoration of the Rugby - Gatwick service.

For full details see the Warwickshire Local Transport Plan 3rd draft.

According to reports in the railway press, the Department for Transport Rail Group has announced that it will not be taking up the option to order an extra 42 vehicles to lengthen all Pendolinos to 11 car trains.

This means that only the initial order for 4 new 11-car trains and 62 additional vehicles to lengthen 31 of the existing trains to 11 cars will go ahead. From 2012 therefore the Pendolino fleet will consist of 35 trains of 11 cars, and 21 trains of 9 cars.

This is expected to cause operational problems for whoever takes over the Virgin franchise, as the whole fleet will no longer be interchangeable. Particular length sets will therefore need to be allocated to specific workings, which will reduce the operational flexibility of the fleet. Inevitably this will mean that, when the service is disrupted, some trains which should be 11 cars will run with only 9, and vice versa.

Following the government's spending review, Train Operaing Companies will be permitted to increase regulated rail fares, including season tickets, by up to 3% above the rate of inflation. However, this will not take effect until the January 2012 fares increase. This means that the forthcoming fares revision in January 2011 will see regulated fares rise by a maximum of RPI + 1% as in previous years.

The Transport Spending Review Press Notice states "The Government will increase the cap on regulated rail fares from the current RPI +1% to an average annual increase of RPI +3% for three years from January 2012. Because the Government recognises the impact of relatively high inflation at present, it has decided to retain the RPI+1% average cap for 2011. This means fares will increase in real terms by 10% over the next four years. This fare increase will mean the Government can deliver priority capacity improvements on the rail network to relieve overcrowding and improve passenger comfort."

The current adverse weather is causing disruption to train services for a number of reasons, in particular:
1. frozen points which means they cannot be operated
2. damage to trains caused by the freezing conditions
3. icicles falling from overhead line equipment and tunnel roofs onto tilting trains and breaking windows.

To mitigate against these problems as far as possible, the following arrangements are in force.

1. As many points as possible are being set for through running moves only. This means that they cannot be used to switch trains from one line to another, thereby restricting possible train movements. One area where this applies is between Euston and Milton Keynes (both exclusive). As a result, Virgin trains are restricted to the fast lines, and London Midland trains are restricted to the slow lines. This loss of flexibility means the Euston - Tring services are not running, nor are the peak extra trains between Euston and Watford Junction. Other trains are making additional calls as a replacement, which is one of the reasons why London Midland trains are running late.

2. Both Virgin and London Midland have a number of trains out of use with frost damage. This means that fewer trains are available for service and some have had to be cancelled until these can be repaired.

3. The tilt function has been disabled on Virgin Pendolinos and Voyagers to prevent icicles falling onto and breaking train windows. This means that trains can only run at 100mph instead of 125mph. Trains will therefore take longer to complete their journey and in consequence will not be in the right place at the right time to start their next working. For this reason, one train each hour between Euston and Manchester, and one train each hour between Euston and Birmingham have been cancelled. Other trains are making additional stops as a replacement, resulting in further delays. As the day progresses, delays will become more severe as the knock on effect of trains being out of position increases.

This information has been gleaned from a number of sources within the railway industry, but is not an official announcement. We have published it to give you a better understanding of why services continue to be delayed, even when there has been no recent snowfall.

Transport Minister Lord Adonis has announced the government's plan for a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham. If built, the line would not serve Rugby but run through the Chilterns and then between Leamington and Coventry to an interchange with the existing rail network at Birmingham international, then on to a new station in Birmingham at Curzon Street. London to Birmingham times of 49 minutes have been quoted.

The closest to Rugby the line would come is to the south of Southam. Full details are shown on the PDF map showing route of high speed line near Southam, or alternatively you can view a PDF map of the entire route.

Work is not expected to start before 2017 at the earliest, but with the current economic climate it could be many years before this project comes to fruition. It will have no direct impact on Rugby, but should free up some capacity on the existing West Coast Main Line for, hopefully, an improved service to intermediate stations.

The new coalition government has now stated it supports the development of high speed rail.

For further details see the BBC News item on the high speed line.

Virgin Trains have reduced the peak time charge for the station car parks at Rugby to £4.50 until further notice. All other charges at the station car parks remain unaltered.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has rejected Virgin's bid for an extension to their franchise. This means that Virgin's franchise to operate the West Coast main line will end as originally planned in Spring 2012.

Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport, is reported as saying “We won’t be accepting Virgin’s proposal for an extension. We think it’s important to open franchises to competition and we’re likely to get better value for taxpayers and the government.”

Ms Villiers also said that the franchising sytem was under review and the DfT would like the West Coast franchise to be included in the changes. She did, however, encourage Virgin Trains to bid for the new franchise when the tender invitations are issued.

In determining its specification for the post-April 2012 timetable, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has asked Network Rail to develop plans for an additional off-peak service from Euston on Mondays to Fridays. This would leave at xx.33 minutes past each hour from 07.33 to 15.33, and would call at Milton Keynes, Rugby, Nuneaton and Crewe. A similar hourly service would be provided in the reverse direction, starting after the morning peak time arrivals at Euston. Should this come to fruition, not only would it restore a direct link from Rugby to the North, but also provide a new fast service between Rugby and Milton Keynes.

Network Rail have also been asked to develop options to extend this service to Preston, Blackpool, Bradford, Leeds or Blackburn. Timings are therefore based on the use of a class 221 tilting Voyager train.

Whilst it cannot be assumed at this stage that such a service will be introduced, it is encouraging to note that if any additional trains are to run on the West Coast Main Line from 2012 then this is the most likely scenario. Whoever operates these services will therefore need to use 125 mph trains, which may well rule out many if not all of the 19 potential operators who have expressed an interest in providing additional train services on the West Coast Main Line.

The ORR remit can be viewed in full by clicking here.

An additional bus service to Rugby station from Bilton and Brownsover will be introduced from Monday 27 September.

New service 4A, operated by A-Line Travel, will run from Brownsover via the rail station and town centre to Bilton, terminating at the top end of Frobisher Road. This service will operate every 30 minutes on Mondays to Saturdays between about 09.00 and 14.30. There will be in gap in the service around lunchtime.

This service will operate in competition with the existing Stagecoach route 4, and will offer cheaper fares for travellers to and from the station.

For further details and times please click here.

The chancellor George Osborne has stated that, as part of the £6.2bn cuts in government expenditure, the Department for Transport will have to make savings of £683m. Although some of this will come from cancelled road schemes, the effect on rail will include:
* £100m cut in Network Rail's budget
* reduction in rolling stock orders
* cancellation of stations improvement scheme
* reduction in grants to local authorities for transport projects.

Details of how the cuts will affect individual schemes will become known in due course, and will result from discussions between Network Rail, the Train Operating Companies for the railway industry, and Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond and Minister for Railways Theresa Villiers for the government.

However, the government remains committed to the proposed new high speed rail line, and will introduce a hybrid bill "in due course". This means that there is no specific timescale for the bill, partly because there will be further consultation on the route the new line will take. They will also look at linking the existing high speed line (HS1) will the new HS2 line, which would facilitate through workings between the Midlands and south east England, and possibly even Europe.

Virgin Trains have applied to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to extend their franchise to the timetable change date in December 2013. As the DfT are currently renewing the franchising system, it seems likely that this extension will be granted.

We also understand that the DfT do not wish the start of the new West Coast franchise to coincide with the delivery and commissioning of the new Pendolino vehicles currently on order. It could transpire, therefore, that the additional and longer Pendolinos will after all operate for a short while under the existing Virgin franchise.

Following a request by RRUG, our MP Jeremy Wright asked a question in the House of Commons about the future provision of rail services between Rugby, the North West and Scotland.

Chris Mole replied by saying that the existing Virgin Trains franchise would expire in 2012. Interested stakeholders will be able to give their views on future train services when consultation on the new franchise starts around the end of this year.

For further details see the Hansard except for 2 March and scroll down to the item headed "Railways - Rugby".

The Ponder car park, on the site of the old cattle market in Railway Terrace, has now closed.

The three car parks run by NCP on behalf of Virgin Trains, together with the other car park operated by Ponder in Mill Road, remain in operation.

During the Summer school holiday period, there will be changes to the Birmingham - Glasgow service to provide additional capacity. This will be done by substituting 9-car Pendolinos for 5-car Voyagers on some services. To facilitate this, two Euston - Birmingham services will be combined with Birmingham - Glasgow services to provide through trains between Euston and Glasgow via Coventry and Birmingham. There will be two similar workings in the reverse direction.

However, to provide the Pendolinos the following services on the Euston - Birmingham route will be formed of 5-car Voyagers instead of 9-car Pendolinos:
* 08.03 Euston - Birmingham (Rugby 08.51)
* 11.43 Euston - Birmingham (does not call at Rugby)
* 15.23 Euston - Birmingham (does not call at Rugby)
* 20.03 Euston - Birmingham (Rugby 20.51)
* 06.20 Rugby - Euston
* 09.50 Birmingham - Euston (Rugby 10.24)
* 10.30 Birmingham - Euston (does not call at Rugby)
* 13.30 Birmingham - Euston (does not call at Rugby)
* 17.45 Wolverhampton - Euston (does not call at Rugby).

These changes will apply from 19 July until 3 September.