Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) held a drop-in session for MPs in Parliament last week, where Richard raised constituents' questions to Chris Fowler, GTR's Network Operations Director, and Phil Hutchinson, Head of Strategic Planning.
Ahead of the meeting, Richard asked rail users through Facebook for points they wanted him to raise with GTR.
A summary of the issues discussed can be found below:
- As we already know, there will be 2 additional peak time trains between London and Biggleswade starting in December.
- GTR are recruiting 94 new drivers across Thameslink and Great Northern lines which should be good news as a shortage of drivers is frequently cited as being one of the main reasons for cancellations on this line.
- The number of trains running during peak and off peak times is largely driven by demand and financial viability considerations. Additional trains are being added as required and viable and GTR fully expects additional services on the timetable during 2025.
- At least for now, the additional peak time services being introduced in December will not stop at Sandy due to the impact and knock-on effects this would have further up the line.
- A through service to Horsham on Sundays will not be introduced as Sundays are when most engineering works happen and running through central would necessitate a number of diversions.
- For those who would prefer to see fewer trains running all the way to and from Horsham due to the increased likelihood of delays caused by incidents south of the river, GTR acknowledged that this is always a risk on such long journeys but that there are no plans to change this at the moment.
- Communication about delays and best alternative routes for travellers to take is generally left to individual station staff and as a result is as good or bad as the experience and decision-making of the respective staff. GTR agreed that staff at the control centre can, and will provide more detailed information about disruptions and also deliver more explicit remedial information to staff.
- On recovering expenses for costs incurred with finding alternative transport, affected passengers are encouraged to use Delay Repay to see exactly what they are entitled to as it will differ from case to case. I appreciate that this is a retrospective judgement and is not helpful when weighing up whether to wait an extra hour for a connecting train or join 2-3 others in a taxi but I'm afraid it's currently the best we have.
- As has been widely publicised, the employment terms for train drivers often contain covenants and restrictions that the recent pay award didn't seek to address. Each part of the network has different terms and conditions for employees and the ones on the Peterborough lines are more restrictive to enable flexible working for workers. This brings its own challenges when managing a timetable and a commensurate workforce.
- GTR's current contract runs until 2028 but they have a break clause on 31st March at which time the government could give GTR 12 weeks’ notice to quit and this state of uncertainty will exist permanently over the next 3 years. The uncertainty about the timing creates real disincentives for franchisees to invest. Irrespective of whether one supports or opposes rail nationalisation, it's clear that travellers will be the biggest losers during this period of uncertainty so the sooner a definitive decision is taken the better.
Speaking afterwards, Richard Fuller MP said:
Overall a useful and constructive meeting but still so much more to achieve to deliver the robust and reliable service that constituents in Sandy, Biggleswade (and Arlesey) demand and deserve.
