Anger as hourly Nuneaton to Coventry and Leamington rail service will not be restored for monthsNuneaton rail campaigners have raged that people 'deserve a rail service just like in Birmingham, London or anywhere else in the country' amid more service delays.
It is has been revealed that the hourly service on the Nuneaton to Leamington line will not be reinstated until September at the earliest.
This means that people will continue to only have access to a train service every two hours with buses continuing to replace trains.
Stu Anderson, co-chair of the Nuneaton, Bedworth and Hinckley Rail Users Group, said the current situation is a 'disgrace' for those trying to access services for work purposes.
"This level predates when the line re opened to passenger traffic in 1986/1987 by then British Railways Regional Railways sector and is fine for the era, however we live in the 21st century now," he said.
"I am aware Covid shook the industry and the country hard and caught pretty much everyone by surprise however as the country is starting to open up again, people being vaccinated, people returning to work places and leisure travelling means why can't we have at least one train per hour," he said.
He fielded his complaint to West Midlands Trains and was told that the company faced 'significant challenges' with Covid-19 and driver training which has affected the network.
This includes the Leamington Depot, where the the drivers book in to operate services with residual effects from Covid-19.
"They have lost around 25,000 hours of training of new drivers and conductors and whilst they have hired train crew they still faced significant challenges around training and social distancing, whilst the social distancing is easing they are saying it will take up to two years before we will be back to pre pandemic train crew levels," he said.
"So until September 1 train per two hours will remain and buses replacing trains.
"We will continue to fight for our rail services to be introduced on the line as we still deserve a rail service just like in Birmingham, London or anywhere else in the country."