East Midlands Trains introduce flexible tickets as bad weather hits travel

East Midlands Trains is giving customers the flexibility to use tickets on any of its services to help people get home and visit family and friends for Christmas as severe weather continues to affects parts of the UK.

Heavy rain and high winds of up to 75mph have affected many train operators and other transport networks today, resulting in speed restrictions and amended timetables during the day.

Further severe weather is expected overnight. Network Rail engineers will be working throughout the night to monitor the impact of the weather and to repair any damage.

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East Midlands Trains is planning to operate a normal Christmas Eve timetable tomorrow (24 December 2013) provided Network Rail confirms lines are clear for trains after the storm has passed.

The company is also running longer trains where possible to and from London this evening to help passengers affected by the disruption earlier today.

However, customers are strongly advised to check the status of their journey before leaving for the station due to the forecast of further severe weather overnight. Passengers should also check the times of last trains in advance as services across the UK rail network will finish early tomorrow evening.

A spokesman for East Midlands Trains said: “Despite the adverse weather, our priority is to get people home safely and in time for Christmas.

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“We are running longer trains where possible to accommodate people whose journeys have been disrupted earlier today. In addition, we have increased ticket flexibility for today and tomorrow to allow passengers to change their time of travel if necessary.

“Along with Network Rail, we will do everything we can to run services tomorrow morning. However, we would strongly advise customers to check the latest travel advice in the morning. We will continue to monitor the weather forecast closely to ensure we put the safety of customers and our staff first.”

The latest advice is available at www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk and on Twitter @EMTrains.