Further rail services cut across the east

Sounthend Victoria is one of the stations that will be affected by a reduction to services. Credit: ITV Anglia

More daily train services are being cut in the region from Monday in response to covid related staff shortages.

East Midlands Railway, which runs services through Peterborough and Ely and Avanti West Coast at Milton Keynes and Northampton are introducing emergency timetables on Monday.

16 services will be removed the weekday timetable of c2c, which operates between London Fenchurch Street and south Essex.

They have said it is to reduce the number of cancellations they need to make at short notice and to protect key services.

Several other operators, including Greater Anglia, have taken similar measures in recent weeks due to the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

It was estimated earlier this month that around 10% of rail staff were absent from work.

Avanti West Coast will only run one train per hour in both directions on each of its routes connecting London Euston with Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester.

East Midlands Railway said it is removing 4% of services from its timetable as short-notice cancellations are "incredibly frustrating" for passengers.

This will "protect" those trains which are "important for customers who are still travelling", it added.

The reductions come as one union urged the Government to reveal what its plans were for the railway network.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying it wants answers on whether the Government plans to cut £2 billion from the operating costs of England's railways.

  • Watch an interview with Luke Chester from the TSSA

Luke Chester, TSSA Organising Director, said they wanted assurances from the Government that job losses on the railways wound not be compulsory for rail workers.

"Greater Anglia did cut 70 trains earlier this the timetable is already a skeleton timetable," he said.

"We would like the Government to be clear on what it's plans are so that everybody understands what is going to be provided in terms of rail services so our passengers are able to make decisions about how they're going to get to work, if rail services are going to be dramatically reduced," he added.