Train suspension brings commuter chaos
Trains services through Shropshire were de-railed when a long distance fleet was taken off the line for urgent safety checks.
Commuters in the county were left with a limited replacement coach service on Wednesday as Arriva Trains Wales completely suspended its Shrewsbury to Cardiff trains which serve Church Stretton and Ludlow.
The rail company's other services out of Shrewsbury, to Chester, Crewe and Manchester and along the Heart of Wales line to Shrewsbury were also severely affected.
Arriva Trains Wales said if could not predict when trains would run again and warned passengers to travel if only absolutely necessary.
Safety checks late on Tuesday night revealed damage to some of the trains within Arriva Trains Wales' fleet.
In a joint statement Bill Kelly, Chief Operating Officer, Network Rail and Bethan Jelfs, Customer Services Director, Arriva Trains Wales said: “Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales are carrying out essential safety checks on rail infrastructure and trains after inspections of the fleet revealed some damage to particular trains.
"The majority of long-distance Arriva Trains Wales services operating in North Wales, West Wales and the Marches were suspended as a result.
"The safety of our customers and our people is a key priority, therefore our frontline staff are currently working hard in very difficult weather conditions to ensure thorough checks are undertaken across fleet and infrastructure.
“Some of our services will be operating with fewer carriages and additionally, given the worsening weather predicted over the next few days, we are advising customers to travel only if absolutely necessary and to ensure that they check www.arrivatrains.wales/check to see if their journey will be affected.
The train company said it was working to put in place alternative transport for customers where possible but warned it would be limited due to weather conditions and the number of services affected.
Replacement coaches were running yesterday between Shrewsbury and Hereford but Ludlow councillor Andy Boddington said there were not in place until after the rush hour.
"There is no information on the replacement bus service, passengers are having to just stand around and wait," he said.
"I have no problem with safety being the overriding priority but why did this problem suddenly occur? My concern is that the root cause may be connected with Arriva losing the franchise later this year."
Last year Arriva withdrew from the tendering process to run the Borders and Wales franchise due to be decided by October 2018 and after the collapse of Carillion, Scotrail operator Abellio Group withdrew its bid for the franchise. Two groups remain in the running, Keolis Amey, which runs High Speed 1, and Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation.
