Major disruption to train services expected in West Midlands over the weekend due to lack of crew

West Midlands Railway today advised passengers to prepare for the disruption that will affect services over the weekend following a 'spike' in short-term sickness absence.

They also warned passengers that afternoon and evening services in particular will be disrupted.

It comes as England are set to compete in the Euro's quarter final against Switzerland in Saturday's match. The transport company has advised that rail replacement buses will be in operation over the weekend.

The affected lines and main stations are below, though bear in mind that the disruption will impact every station on each line.

• Shrewsbury – which calls at Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Telford and Shrewsbury

• Nuneaton – which calls at Coventry and Leamington Spa

• New Street – calling at Northampton

• Cross City Line – which calls at Lichfield, Four Oaks, Birmingham New St, Redditch, Bromsgrove)

A spokesperson for West Midlands Railway said: "Due to a lack of available train crew at key locations across our network, following a recent spike in short term sickness absence at key locations, we are unfortunately expecting disruption to train services on both Saturday and Sunday.

"This will particularly impact afternoon & evening services on Saturday and earlier morning services on Sunday. It is unfortunately likely that services will be disrupted on all of our routes.

"We have ordered rail replacement buses to supplement the train service, however rail replacement bus capacity will be limited and journey times significantly extended compared to if a full train service was able to operate.

"Our resourcing teams will continue to work to provide cover for trains where possible with the crew we expect to have available each day, as such we will update online and app based journey planners overnight for the following day to confirm which services are cancelled / affected.

"We advise customers to check their own journey (including potential connections via other operators) on the morning of travel to see if your services are affected.

"Use the National Rail Enquiries real-time journey planner for the most up to date information about your journey."