By Lewis Bazley.

A rail firm may have left thousands of passengers facing a difficult journey home after all but one of its Sunday service routes were cancelled today.

Drivers for London Midland typically work on a voluntary basis on Sundays but after insufficient numbers put themselves forward for work this week, the company has scrapped the majority of its routes this weekend.

Only the Birmingham-Liverpool service was expected to still be running while replacement bus services will be provided on some routes.

Shaun Hope, a spokesman for the Northampton Rail Users’ Group, told the BBC the situation was a "shambles".

"How can they run an essential service on a voluntary basis? It’s an astonishing way to operate a train service," he added.

But Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT), said the cancellations had arisen through staff exercising their contractual right not to work.

"Their contracts of employment say they haven’t got to work on a Sunday. It’s their choice," he explained.

"If someone wanted to work a Sunday because they’re short of money and said to the employer ‘I’m coming in this Sunday because I want some extra overtime’, then the employer hasn’t got to give it to him. Quite rightly so.

"But in reverse if the employee hasn’t got to work on a Sunday and doesn’t want to come in, he hasn’t got to come in.

"They’re not breaking their contracts of employment so what is the big deal?"

London Midland has posted an apology for the situation on its website and advised passengers to avoid travel if possible.

Popularity: 1% [?]