LOCAL train users have been dealt a double blow with two services set to be cut later this year.

The Advertiser/Messenger has learned Arriva’s CrossCountry trains, which have taken over the Nottingham to Cardiff route, are scrapping one of the peak trains for Bromsgrove, leaving it with only two weekday trains in the morning and evening peak periods.

A CrossCountry spokesman said the long distance service between Nottingham and Cardiff stopped at a few stations but stopping at Bromsgrove increased “overall journey times” and provided a “risk of delay.”

Most commuters used Arriva’s trains for journeys to and from Birmingham, “well-served” by local Birmingham-area trains, the spokesman added.

Bromsgrove Rail Users Group (BRUG) chairman Mike Ponsonby said it was yet another cut back for Bromsgrove passengers, and the decision did not consider those long-distance travellers who regularly used the service.