Cancelled trains to Kenilworth Railway Station, in the fortnight since it reopened, have been blamed on driver absences.

Trains returned to the town at the end of February, with a full timetable reinstated for the first time in over a year.

But in the two weeks since reopening passengers have already reported a number of cancelled services.

Operator West Midlands Railway said the "small number of cancellations" were "due to drive absences" and said that all cancelled trains had been replaced by buses.

"Our driver training and pandemic-recovery plans continue to progress well after losing more than 25,000 driver training hours due to Covid," a spokesperson added.

"We are working extremely hard to get the number of qualified drivers we need to ensure we can run the train service robustly, but until then we will occasionally be susceptible to train crew shortages and possible service cancellations as a result.

"As always, we will do everything we can to manage the risk of cancellations and reduce the impact on our customers."

WMR originally suspended services back in January 2021 and then again in December because of driver shortages caused by Covid-19.

The station's reopening was only made possible by declining Covid-19 infection rates and fewer staff absences as a result.

Improvements needed

Local councillor Cllr Richard Dickson has called for the station to have another platform and mainline services.

And he said WMR needs to provide a regular and reliable service to restore confidence in the line.

"Firstly the plan was scaled down to a single track with no cross-country trains stopping at Kenilworth and then the opening of the line was delayed at least three time," he said.

"When it did eventually open in December 2018 it was just one carriage – a bus on wheels – with no Sunday service.

"It is no surprise that from the get go the line has, sadly, been an expensive white elephant. Even before Covid there were frequent delays and cancellations. People will not arrange to use a rail line if people don't trust the train will be running on time – if at all."