ADDITIONAL trains serving Lichfield Trent Valley station have been welcomed.
Avanti West Coast currently operates hourly trains on the West Coast Main Line between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston.
But from 15th December there will be a phased introduction of additional services which will make Lichfield Trent Valley a permanent stop.
As a result, four extra trains will run from Monday to Friday with three more on Saturdays and an additional two on Sundays.
Lichfield MP Dave Robertson said:
“Many of my constituents regularly commute to London on the train and tell me that services are overcrowded, uncomfortable and few and far between.
“I have met with Avanti West Coast in Lichfield and in Parliament to stress the need for new services to alleviate congestion and provide better connections to the capital and the north west for my constituents.
“I am delighted to see more trains coming into service, but I will keep pushing to improve public transport in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages, as there is much more to do.”
The additional services will also call at Tamworth offering increased local connections for passengers as well.
Sarah Edwards, MP for Tamworth – which includes Whittington, Stonnall, Shenstone and Fazeley – said:
“I welcome the news of the new Avanti trains following their meeting with Dave and myself.
“I will continue to fight for better transport links for our towns and villages.”
Mark Osborne, regional growth manager for Avanti West Coast, said:
“In addition to our existing services we will be adding additional services to and from Lichfield Trent Valley and Tamworth from 15th December.
“Seats for these services can be booked now and up to 12 weeks in advance.”
The new trains coming into service will be see a weekday London-bound service from Lichfield Trent Valley at 10.14am and 11.15am, along with Liverpool-bound services at 2.23pm and 5.16pm.
Saturdays will see additional London-bound services at 8.15am, 10.15am and 2.15pm, while passengers travelling on Sunday can head south on an extra train from Lichfield at 1.15pm or north on the additional 3.24pm service.
