1000 MILES OF RAIL ROUTES ARE DUE TO BE REPLACED BY BUSES THIS BANK HOLIDAY

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 24th Aug 2009

More than 1,000 miles of rail routes will be replaced by buses over the August Bank Holiday weekend (28th-31st), analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

Solihull's MP, Lorely Burt said:

"It is unfortunate that there are so many bus replacements for the Bank Holiday when many people are trying to

travel to see friends or family and to take holidays.

Across the West Midlands, trains from Birmingham International to Milton Keynes, Shrewsbury to Wrexham, Coventry to Northampton, Kidderminster to Droitwich Spa and Rugby to Kettering are all affected. I would advise travellers to check before booking."

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said:

"Spending hours in a hot bus is not the way most of us want to spend our Bank Holiday but with miles of rail replacement buses planned yet again, it's going to be hard to avoid. Passengers who have paid for a rail journey have the right to expect to travel by train. Train companies that force passengers to travel part of the journey by bus should give them a substantial rebate on the cost of their ticket."