Another 21 London Midland train services stopped
Another 21 trains in the West Midlands will be cancelled tomorrow because of a shortage of drivers, it was revealed today, as a government minister issued a warning to the company involved.
London Midland has come under fire after more than 60 services were cancelled yesterday and Monday.
The company has seen a large number of drivers leave and has not had time to train their replacements.
A driver's notice period is three months but training takes a year.
Disruption on services through the Black Country and Staffordshire is set to continue until the middle of December. Trains were running as normal today but London Midland could not rule out some disruption as it did not have spare staff to cover sickness or unplanned absence.
Transport minister Norman Baker intervened today and said he had spoken to the firm. He added: "As with other franchises, London Midland is required to meet stringent benchmarks relating to their performance and I will be monitoring this extremely closely to ensure that normal services are resumed as a matter of absolute priority."