Rail services between Leamington and Kenilworth temporarily suspended over Christmas due to Omicron surge

Rail services between Leamington and Kenilworth have been temporarily suspended over Christmas.

West Midlands Railway (WMR) has today (Wednesday December 22) confirmed the temporary suspension of train services between Nuneaton and Leamington, via Kenilworth, due to an increase in staff absences linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In recent weeks WMR has seen a sharp increase in the number of colleagues off work due to either testing positive for Covid-19 or being required to self-isolate, leading to a rise in the number of short-notice cancellations due to a shortage of available traincrew.

Rail replacement buses will be in operation on the route between the Warwickshire towns from Monday December 27 until further notice while the operator keeps staffing levels under close review.

Services on the line have been previously suspended due to issues relating to the pandemic.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: “The significant increase in Covid-19 cases among our staff comes on top of existing traincrew shortages caused by delays to our driver training programme during the pandemic. In these circumstances we have no choice but to temporarily suspend the train service until further notice.

“I apologise to customers for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience and understanding. We are keeping the situation under close review and it remains our intention to reinstate the full timetable on this line as soon as possible.”

Any passenger delayed by 15 minutes or more as a result of cancellation or disruption can claim compensation by visiting www.wmr.uk/delayrepay