RAIL services between Great Malvern and Hereford, taking in Colwall and Ledbury, will be cancelled from Saturday, June 18, to the following Wednesday to allow essential maintenance to be carried out.

London Midland services that normally run to and from Great Malvern and Hereford will be revised to run between Birmingham and Worcester Foregate Street.

Connections can be made at Worcester Foregate Street onto Great Western services to Malvern Link and Great Malvern. Rail replacement coaches will then run to and from Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.

At certain times, a limited train service will run between Birmingham and Great Malvern, connecting with the replacement coach service to and from Hereford.

On Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, there will be an additional rail replacement coach between Worcester and Hereford, starting at Shrub Hill at 6.38am and reaching Hereford at 8.30am.

Great Western services between London Paddington and Hereford will terminate at Great Malvern, connecting with rail replacement services to Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.

Train services between Great Malvern, Bristol and the south coast will run to an amended timetable.

Commuters are also warned that there will be significantly less parking available at Great Malvern, because of the space needed for the coaches. Customers are advised to park at Malvern Link station instead where parking will be free.

Timetables for services during this period are available on line, but not from stations.

The work is being carried out as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan and will involve refurbishing part of the existing

signalling system and replacing tracks.

The work is intended to lead to greater reliability for passengers, smoother journeys and fewer delays.

Brenda Lawrence of London Midland said: “We know there is never a good time to do improvement work across the network. However the works on the signalling system in the Worcester and Great Malvern areas this summer are essential and will give our passengers a reliable service in the area."