At the recent 2026 Rail Industry Planning Awards, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway were both honoured.
The awards highlight the sister rail companies’ commitment to passengers and delivering adequate timetables.
They were awarded the ‘Short Term Planning Team of the Year Award’ following the rollout of their Class 730/2s last summer.
Additionally, the new trains have increased capacity on the network, leading to more people utilising it.
The operators were also praised for their planning when delivering extra support for major events such as football matches and concerts.
“I am so pleased our fantastic STP team has been recognised with this award.
“They work so hard to ensure we run a reliable service which works for passengers and supports travel to events across our network.
“Crucially, they also played a key role in bringing our new electric trains to the West Coast Main Line. It was a challenging rollout but they delivered it seamlessly so our customers could feel the benefit of these modern, spacious trains, as quickly as possible.”
Ashley Wilkes, head of planning, access and timetable strategy at LNR and WMR
Responses
Since the LNW Class 730/2 have entered service to replace the Class 319 and Class 350/2 on the West Coast Main Line and operating on London Euston-Northampton, Milton Keynes Central, Tring, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Stoke-on-Trent.
And the WMR Class 730/0 that are operating on the Cross-City Line and have replaced the Class 323. Both the Class 730/0 and Class 730/2 Aventra are the best trains that Alstom have built for WMT.
And perhaps WM Railway should allow some of the Class 730/0s to operate the Walsall-Wolverhampton shuttle since Willenhall and Darlaston stations have reopened.