Richard received an 'action plan' from GTR following their meeting last month. This can be read below.
Richard Fuller MP said:
When I met with GTR's COO in early September, I left the meeting with some degree of hope that here was someone who 'got it', who was committed to genuinely tackling the myriad issues and making a tangible difference to the blighted lives of those rail users unfortunate enough to rely on the train service from Sandy and Biggleswade.
The words below represent the 'action plan' I received following that meeting. Regrettably this falls short of the robust, detailed and benchmarked plan that I was hoping for. I fear that whilst most of the initiatives are positive and deserve a guarded welcome, the overall package falls short of the radical overhaul required to adequately address the scale of failings. The improvements will be modest at best and on such an extended timetable that they will offer only the tiniest crumbs of comfort to my long-suffering constituents. Perhaps the best we can hope for is that the high level of sickness drops back to more manageable levels now that summer is over!
I will be meeting again with GTR at a 'drop-in' event in Parliament on Monday, October 20th and will push them to improve the situation. Please email me at [email protected] with any recent experiences and observations that may be useful at this event on Monday.
Earlier this month, GTR were given a nationalisation date of May 2026. Richard commented previously that he doesn't see this as a 'silver bullet' that will solve the problems. Meanwhile, GTR have absolutely no incentive to improve the situation over the coming months.
𝙐𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙂𝙏𝙍
𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘽𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩. 𝙒𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚.
𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧, 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧-𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣-𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝-𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙, 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.
𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙭, 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 90, 𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣 8% 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨.
𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮, 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨. 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 – 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙨. 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚) 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮.
𝘿𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝘿𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨.
