London Midland has welcomed the announcement, by the Department for Transport (DfT), that the train operator will continue to run services between London, the West Midlands and the North of England until October 2017.
Passengers are set to benefit from more services, free WiFi, improved performance and better ticketing among many changes planned by London Midland
£13 million worth of improvements are planned over the next 18 months including:
Two extra evening services every weekday from London to the Trent Valley, providing an additional 2,300 seats from Euston each week;
Earlier services to central Birmingham on Sunday mornings from surrounding towns including Rugby and Lichfield, with new Sunday services from Longbridge, Dorridge and Whitlocks End. This will provide more than 900 extra seats every week, and benefit shoppers, workers and local businesses;
Free WiFi on long-distance services between London Euston, Northampton, Birmingham, Crewe, Stoke and Liverpool, with the aim that this will be free on all services when the next fully-competed franchise starts;
An extra daily return service on the Abbey line, between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, providing an extra 3,400 seats every week;
New and upgraded ticket machines at selected stations, with new click and collect and contactless payment options;
More than 400 extra car parking spaces across three stations Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Tamworth; and
New targets to improve customer satisfaction and train punctuality.
I might actually be able to arrive in town earlier than mid-morning, and leave later than teatime. 
