Richard recently met again with GTR’s Chief Operating Officer, John Whitehurst, in Parliament to raise the continuing frustrations of rail users in his constituency.
Prior to this meeting, the majority of the concerns shared with Richard related to service delays and cancellations, particularly on the Peterborough to London line, which continue to disrupt daily life. At this latest meeting, he also took the opportunity to raise the subject of a deterioration in service on the Bedford to London line as several constituents have reported an increasing number of issues in recent months.
Richard Fuller MP said:
GTR have acknowledged a particular spike in service disruption during August. I have asked for them to share historical data – key performance indicators – to confirm that services have returned to their – still unacceptably unreliable level. I have also requested detailed information on the specific incidents constituents have flagged with me and GTR committed to investigating these and reporting back.
I will continue to hold this executive team at GTR to account as they add more drivers and introduce a new timetable which are their two key levers for improvement. I accept that not all levers are in their hands. For example, last year, Ministers handed out huge wage increases with no requirement from rail unions to increase productivity or modernise the working practices that continue to block progress.
The COO confirmed that he will come to a public meeting in my constituency in the New Year and face the public directly.
