Shropshire commuters on track to have better trains within five years
New or refurbished trains will be coming to Shropshire within the next five years, it has been revealed.
Every train on the service currently run by London Midland is to be replaced or revamped by 2021, according to the Department for Transport, DoT.
Older trains will have new seats, new lighting and CCTV fitted.
The plans were revealed by the department Department for Transport (DoT) as it published details of how the service will operate once a new franchise begins in 2017. A DoT document states: "We are requiring a full refurbishment of all older trains by December 2021, unless they are being replaced before the end of 2022, incorporating the replacement of seats and other interior fittings, replacement lighting and installation of CCTV where not already fitted."
It is part of planned major changes to the service. The number of peak daytime services between Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton and Birmingham will be doubled from one an hour to two an hour, from December 2018.
And some local services that only run between Birmingham and Wolverhampton will now be extended so that they also run past Wolverhampton to Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe.
Extra carriages will also be added to some services to cut congestion.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling MP, said: "It will deliver a rail service that is fit for modern life and supports the sustainable growth of the West Midlands and the country as a whole."
Two firms are bidding to run the service.
One is the current operator London and West Midlands Railway Ltd, a subsidiary of transport firm Govia which owns London Midland.
The other bidder is West Midlands Trains Ltd, which is owned by Dutch firm Abellio and Japanese firms East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui & Co Ltd.
Whoever gets the contract will run the franchise until March 2026.
The service includes local trains stopping at stations within Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and the rest of the Black Country, as well as throughout the wider West Midlands.
It will also include including Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Redditch and Worcester, Stratford and Coventry.
And it includes long distance services between the West Midlands, to Liverpool and London Euston.
Officially, it's called the West Midlands franchise but passengers are more likely to know it as the London Midland service after the company which currently runs it.
It is hoped the new West Midlands Mayor, when elected next year, will eventually be put in charge of overseeing the services.
