COMMUTER rail services between Ledbury, Malvern and Worcester were disrupted yesterday (Monday) in the wake of work to upgrade signalling.

The 6.47am and 7.02am services from Great Malvern to Birmingham New Street were cancelled, as were the 8.07am and 8.37am trains.

All were London Midland services. Some minibus and coach services were laid on to take passengers to their destinations.

Delays continued throughout the day, however a spokesperson for London Midland said an "almost full" service is expected to run today (Tuesday).

Francis Thomas, head of corporate affairs at London Midland, said: "We are hoping to run an almost full service tomorrow (Tuesday). There is a chance of one of two cancellations but we won't know until the morning.

"People should treat the service as normal tomorrow."

On Monday, rail users at Great Malvern station were told by a rail company representative who had been sent to the station specially to advise passengers of the problems, that the cancellations were because not enough drivers had been instructed in the new signalling and points arrangements.

The representative told commuters that disruption was likely to carry on for the rest of the day.

At the same time, over the station PA system, travellers were told that the delays were due to a "a problem currently under investigation".

Problems continued into the afternoon, with several trains terminating at Worcester Foregate Street instead of going on to Malvern, though other services ran as normal.

A statement by London Midland, issued at 5am yesterday, said: “Network Rail has advised us that they have encountered difficulties over the last ten days and this will result in alterations to some services. We are working with Network Rail to ensure a full service is in place as soon possible.

“Road replacement services are in place for those trains that won’t be completing their journeys today and London Midland tickets can be used on Great Western services. We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.”

Rail users took to social media to criticise London Midland.

On Twitter, ‏@ipezman said: @LondonMidland - not sure you're being honest here. Less problem with signals more to do with drivers not being trained. Please clarify?

London Midland replied: @ipezman Hi, it is what we've said - it's issues w/the signals.