West Worcestershire's MP has backed rail regulators pledge to investigate continuing issues with West Midlands Trains.

Harriett Baldwin Baldwin met with Office of Rail and Road chair Declan Collier to discuss the matters surrounding the transport network and flag her concerns.

The Midlands train operator blamed higher-than-average sickness rates and strikes for increased delays and cancellations with its train service before Christmas.

It previously promised to recruit enough train drivers to prevent cancellations but, two years after making the first commitment to rail users, the issue has still not been fixed.

These problems have led to the Department for Transport to monitor West Midlands Trains' performance.

Mrs Baldwin also proposed the regulator to help speed up work for the build of a new car park at Pershore Station and to add Cross Country services at Worcestershire Parkway, as well as support plans to double further sections of track along the Cotswold Line between Worcester and Oxford.

“Worcester Parkway is performing better than ever and clearly some rail services are doing very well, so I am keen for us to exploit the extra demand for rail journeys," she said.

“I welcome the regulator’s pledge to look at the performance of West Midlands Trains and hope that the management will continue to press on with driver recruitment to fix their issues.

“And I’ve asked the regulator to look at how Network Rail manages smaller projects, such as the Pershore station expansion – because they seem to be slipping off the radar and getting forgotten about.

“Public transport will be vital if we are to deliver on our net zero ambitions and I welcome the input of the regulator to help us all choose the train more often.”

A spokesperson for West Midlands Railway said: "We are committed to improving performance and reducing cancellations while we continue to roll out brand new train fleets for our passengers in the West Midlands.

"Performance in the lead up to Christmas was impacted by a combination of poor weather, unusually high sickness among train crew and strike action. Performance has improved since the turn of the year but continues to be impacted by industrial action and we hope a resolution can soon be reached at a national level.”