Send us your questions to ask West Midlands Trains boss
Got any questions for the bosses at West Midlands Trains? This is your chance to ask them.
The rail operator, which provides local services in the West Midlands and Shropshire, has come in for severe criticism in recent months, with there even being talk of having its franchise removed.
Last month's improved performance earned the company a reprieve for now, although West Midlands mayor Andy Street said he would be monitoring the situation closely.
The company has pledged to address the criticisms of its service, and head of customer experience David Whitley has agreed to field readers' questions during an interview next week. His replies to your questions will be featured in this newspaper.
To put your questions to Mr Whitley, email mark.andrews@mnamedia.co.uk by midnight on Monday at the latest. Mr Whitley can only answer questions relating to the West Midlands Trains franchise, and cannot comment on express services run by Avanti or Arriva CrossCountry, or trains operated by Transport For Wales.
West Midlands Trains has been running local short-haul services in the region since taking over from London Midland in 2017.
On January 8, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the 'bell was tolling' for West Midlands Trains following a question in the Commons. Harriett Baldwin, the MP for West Worcestershire, had called for a Government probe into the company's "absolutely woeful" performance, and Mr Street said he would be calling for it to be stripped of its franchise if performance did not improve during January.
Last week Mr Street wrote to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps acknowledging that the service had improved in January, and said he was not calling for the company to be stripped of its franchise at this stage. But he said it should face a heavy fine for its poor performance.
Mr Street said he had carried out a survey of more than 4,100 passengers, with 65 per cent saying they experienced regular disruption between October and December last year.
"That figure has dropped to 34 per cent in January, but that's evidently still way too high and remains unacceptable," he said.
The company admitted that a new timetable introduced last year had not worked. But it said it had also experienced many incidents outside its control.
It also froze the cost of its season tickets to compensate passengers for poor performance.
