Rail company London Midland has been ordered by the Government to spend £4.4 million and reduce train cancellations after a problem with Sunday working arrangements saw services thrown into disarray in the Black Country.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said the train operator must also promote 50,000 cut price tickets over Christmas and make 450,000 more advance purchase tickets available.

Lord Adonis told Parliament that this followed poor performance on Sunday, September 6, which fell short of its customers’ expectations and was unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

London Midland, which runs services from London to the Midlands and North-West, was forced to cancel the majority of its trains on the day due to staffing problems resulting from drivers’ voluntary Sunday working.

The company had axed double time payments which had been in place since former franchisee Central Trains ran services in 2007 and staff then decided not to volunteer for work.

Around 500 services had to be replaced with buses and London Midland was forced to reinstate the payments until January 2010.

Lord Adonis said following London Midland’s breach of its franchise agreement, he had agreed a remedial plan, a measure rarely used but brought in when companies fall below the standards expected of them.

Discussions were at an advanced stage on measures to reduce the level of cancellations and the company agreed to invest £4.4 million on additional high quality information equipment, the minister said.

Councillor Gary Clarke, chairman of Centro, the transport authority for the West Midlands, said today: “I recently wrote to Lord Adonis expressing our disappointment and frustration at London Midland’s failure to look after the needs of the travelling public.

“We welcome the strong stance he has now taken on this matter and we urge London Midland to publicise how they are going to distribute these fare-saving tickets in time for Christmas.”

London Midland spokesman Richard Lakin said: “The company confirmed a detailed plan is being developed with the Department for Transport which will form part of the existing London Midland franchise agreement when discussions are completed.

“London Midland confirmed its commitment to continuing to improve performance, which has improved by 12 per cent since December last year.”

First Capital Connect had to cancel most rail services between London, Cambridge and Peterborough last Sunday as it relies on staff working overtime and rest days.