Henry Smith MP took part in a debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, 16th March, to condemn Govia Thameslink Railway for the continuing unacceptable service being provided to passengers.
Speaking outside the Grand Committee Room in Westminster Hall following the debate, Henry said;
“While it’s important to recognise the investment going into the rail network benefiting Crawley, it’s absolutely vital to hold Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to account for the lamentable service that they are providing on an all-too-frequent basis.
“It’s easy for us regular commuters to brush off bad experiences as the trains being ‘delayed again’ – but we shouldn’t settle for this. People unfamiliar with the network would find such problems particularly difficult, not to mention the reputational damage that continued delays bring.
“I have concerns regarding GTR’s plans to alter the availability of ticket offices, and I wrote to them ahead of the debate seeking clarification on a number of points.”
In his speech, Henry also welcomed the £26 million investment at Three Bridges Station, and hailed the control centre now at the station, as well as the traincare facility which was visited by the Transport Secretary in October 2015.
Henry recently gave his support to the Make Rail Refunds Easier campaign from consumer champions ‘Which?’, which calls on rail operations to be clearer about the refunds passengers are able to claim.
Henry said in the Westminster Hall debate;
“It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am in complete agreement with all the hon. and right hon. Friends and Members who have spoken so far.
“I want to start by mentioning some positives. In the previous Parliament, I was very grateful when Three Bridges station received £26 million in upgrade funding. I am proud of the fact that the new Southern area control centre, a state-of-the-art facility, is based at Three Bridges rail yard. In this Parliament, I have been grateful for the fact that the new Thameslink train care facility is located also at Three Bridges rail yard. It was good to see the Transport Secretary there last year for its opening. It is a very impressive facility indeed and will go a long way to helping to service the longer and more state-of-the-art Thameslink trains that are coming along, we hope, later this year and I am sure will improve the customer experience.
“As smart ticketing has been mentioned, I want to welcome the extension of the Oyster zone to Gatwick airport. Like my hon. Friends the Members for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat), for Horsham (Jeremy Quin) and for Reigate (Crispin Blunt), I would like to see smart metering throughout the network. It is a much more efficient way of running services and also an aid in terms of refunds. The issue of refunds, as hon. and right hon. Friends have mentioned, needs to be better addressed.
“However, I also recognise what the hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) said about the importance of there still being a human presence at ticket offices. It is extremely important. He is a very distinguished chair of the all-party group on dyslexia, and what he said about disability access was absolutely right as well. My constituents have been telling me about what they believe is the folly of ticket office closures. Of course we can have a more efficient system, and there will be some stations where ticket offices, perhaps with new technology, are a thing of the past, but at the moment it is not appropriate to go forward with such a programme.
“A lot of investment has benefited my constituency in recent years, but the experience, as the hon. Member for Luton North said, has been unacceptable. I commute daily to Westminster. Like the hon. Gentleman, I have now allowed myself an extra hour to get into this place, which is ridiculous. I should be able to rely on the train timetable with a degree of certainty. When I stand, all too often at peak times, with my fellow commuter constituents from Three Bridges, the level of service and the slowness of the services is simply not acceptable. Little things might seem quite minor, such as a train coming in from Brighton on the way into London and the announcement on the train or at the station that the train is going in the opposite direction, which occurs too often. The vast majority of people who get on that train every morning know that yet again a mistake has been made, but for a visitor to this country coming into Gatwick airport, for example, that could be a major problem. Also, it does huge reputational damage to the railways. People can be seen rolling their eyes and saying, “They’ve messed up again.” Indeed they have. Such a poor level of service really cannot be tolerated.
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Horsham on securing this debate. I very much hope that it will be another effort that will encourage better service delivery as we go forward. I add my voice in thanking the rail Minister for all the effort she has put in over recent months.”