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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 05/10/13 -- East Midlands Trains has confirmed plans to offer discounted tickets and compensation for customers inconvenienced by the major resignalling work taking place in Nottingham during the summer.

In a first for the rail industry, the train operator, which is part of Stagecoach Group, has announced that it will be offering a 15% discount on rail fares across the affected routes for the duration of the work as well as increasing the number of cheaper tickets available. Customers already holding an annual season ticket for travel on East Midlands Trains journeys to/from Nottingham affected by the changes to train services will receive two weeks worth of free travel.

Neil Micklethwaite, Customer Service and Commercial Director for East Midlands Trains, said: "This is an exciting and significant improvement scheme that will deliver a much improved railway for Nottingham. We have worked hard with Network Rail to ensure that we can continue running trains wherever possible. However, we know that many customers will face disruption to their journey and will need to use replacement bus services for parts or even all of their journey during the works.

"This is the first time that Network Rail has carried out a project of this kind, where travel is disrupted for this length of time. We therefore felt it was particularly important to do something unique for our customers to recognise the major change they will see to their normal train journey.

"It's the first time a train operator has ever provided compensation and discounts for customers during a major period of work such as the Nottingham scheme. We are pleased to be showing our commitment to putting our customers first and doing the right thing for them during these works."

The resignalling work will take place between Saturday 20 July and Sunday 25 August and will result in some significant changes to East Midlands Trains services on routes to and from Nottingham. Full information and timetables can be found at http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/nottingham.

Replacement bus services will be in place on many routes throughout this time. Customers needing to use one of these replacement bus services for all or part of their East Midlands Trains journey will benefit from the discounted tickets and compensation arrangements in place.

The 15% discount will apply on tickets purchased for travel between 20 July and 25 August (excluding advance purchase tickets) that involve travel on a replacement bus. An increased number of cheaper advance purchase fares will also be made available during this time, with advance fares between Nottingham and London priced from just GBP 13 when booked online at www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk.

Annual or period season ticket holders who have already purchased their season ticket for travel on East Midlands Trains services to/from Nottingham between 20 July and 25 August, will receive two weeks of travel vouchers in compensation (claims will be accepted after the disruption). Customers will need to write to East Midlands Trains Customer Relations team either by emailing nottingham.resignallingproject@eastmidlandstrains.co.uk or checking www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk for further contact details.