RAILWAY campaigners have celebrated the success of a campaign calling for a revised timetable for the Stourbridge line that will bring trains back to village stations.

Stourbridge Line User Group (SLUG) has persuaded West Midlands Trains to revise the Stourbridge line timetable from the start of June so that trains to and from Worcester will now call at Hagley and Blakedown.

It will mean the reinstatement of a direct link which was lost when the timetable was revised in May last year.

SLUG chairman Roger Davis submitted the group’s meticulously designed alternative timetable which has now been accepted by West Midlands Trains He said: “Hagley and Blakedown passengers travelling to Worcester made their annoyance clear when last year’s timetable change meant a change at Kidderminster and an additional 15-minute journey time.

“This has proved to be both frustrating and inconvenient for passengers at the two stations.

“The new timetable maintains the mix of semi-fast trains with Hagley and Blakedown now served by trains to and from Worcester and Langley Green, Old Hill and Lye served by services to and from Kidderminster, thus maintaining the existing journey times between Worcester, Kidderminster and Birmingham.”

A spokesperson for West Midlands Railway said of the changes: “Timetable changes are brought in to provide passengers with a more robust and better-performing overall service.

"We take feedback from passengers and local communities on board. As a result Worcester-terminating services will call at Hagley and Blakedown from June.”

SLUG secretary Andy Cope said Stourbridge Line passengers will have chance to raise questions about the timetable at the user group’s public meeting on Tuesday May 14 which will be held in the refreshment room at Kidderminster Town (SVR) Station.

The meeting starts at 7.15pm and Andy said: “There will be presentations from WMT, Chiltern Railways and West Midlands Rail Executive. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session.”