Marston Vale Line trains return delayed again

A train route suspended after a maintenance firm went bust will not resume until "later in the autumn", its operator said.

The Marston Vale Line, which has 12 stations between Bedford and Bletchley, has been out of action since December.

Operator, London Northwestern Railway (LNR), was replacing Class 230 trains with Class 150 trains and training still had to be completed, it said.

A rail replacement bus service would continue to operate in the meantime.

LNR said the three Class 150 trains had arrived at its Bletchley depot in July and had its livery applied to them, replacing the existing Northern branding.

Since then its technicians, who would maintain them, "have been busy familiarising themselves with the trains", it said.

The operator has taken over from Vivarail, which employed the maintenance staff who fuelled, checked, serviced and repaired the Class 230 trains.

As a result of administrators being called in, LNR previously said "it was no longer safe to operate our Class 230s... and we were left with no option but to suspend the service".

It said once technician training had ended, 24 drivers would be trained, but that was being impacted by strike action.

"We regret we will not be in a position to resume the service before the new school term begins in September and we will continue to run rail replacement for affected students until services can restart later in the autumn," it said.

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