FRUSTRATED commuters have hit out at West Midlands Trains after more services travelling between Worcester and Hereford were cancelled.

Students travelling to and from Hereford Sixth Form College were once again late for lessons on Monday (October 7) as a 'cancel fest' saw 12 services axed between 7am and 5pm due to a shortage of train crew. 

This included the 7.42am service from Worcester Foregate Street, a service West Midlands Trains only recently promised Hereford Sixth Form College it would prioritise to help as many students as possible get to class on time. 

But the rail firm has reassured concerned parents they have a long-term plan to resolve this issue. 

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One parent said: "Monday morning was another cancel fest and my child missed their first lesson.

"It's so frustrating, I wish they would just let us know in advance what they can commit to and then just stick to it."

Another has claimed this ordeal is causing havoc to children's education.

West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has recently met with West Midlands Trains managing director Ian McConnell to address the 'serious decline' in the rail service between Worcester and Hereford.

Following this meeting, Dame Baldwin claimed one in ten services are being cancelled on the route, adding the Worcester depot has a quarter of the workforce unable to work at the moment. 

A West Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “We are sorry to passengers on the Hereford Line whose journeys have been impacted by cancellations recently.
 
“We are committed to improving our performance and we have developed an action plan to increase the number of drivers we have available in order to run a more reliable service.
 
“Any passenger whose journey has been delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim compensation via the Delay Repay scheme.”

Following a meeting with Hereford Sixth Form College last month, West Midlands Trains identified several services that should be protected from cancellation as the highest priority, although it couldn't guarantee they might not be cancelled in the future. 

The first train leaves Worcester Foregate Street at 7.42am while the second begins the journey back from Hereford at 4.40pm- allowing students to get to and from college.

But West Midlands Trains has admitted there is 'no quick fix' to the issue, which has seen around 150 Hereford Sixth Form College students from Worcester, Malvern and Ledbury struggling to get to classes.