MP Demands Significant Improvements On Trains

11 January 2013, 06:00

The MP for Watford, Richard Harrington has told Heart, unless he sees "significant improvements" rail firm London Midland should not be trusted with it's franchise.

The MP has started a petition to collect names of commuters and travellers who have been affected by the level of service offered by the firm.

Between the summer and late autumn of last year, around 1000 trains were cancelled as London Midland struggled to cope with a lack of staff - many drivers left the company for higher paid jobs, often with rival train companies.

Mr Harrington began his campaign at Watford station asking for names for his petition saying: "In 2012 the London Midland service through Watford went from bad to worse, and there is little sign of improvement in 2013. Richard Harrington MP is working with frustrated commuters to launch a petition.The aim is to send a message to both London Midland and the Department for Transport that Watford commuters believe that poor services are not acceptable and that London Midland need to make significant improvements if they are to be trusted with this franchise."

In a statement to Heart - London Midland said: "We are fully focused on delivering services that passengers want and expect. The temporary driver shortage has been addressed and current levels of performance are good, however we clearly recognise that recent disruption has been unacceptable to passengers.
 
"A number of trainee drivers continue to complete their training which will assist in dealing with short notice unavailability, such as on the day sickness, which all operators face. We are also continuing our recruitment and training process to add further resource resilience."