Priti Patel MP challenges rail operators over New Year disruption
Witham MP, Priti Patel, has challenged both Network Rail and Greater Anglia over the disruption caused by a track defect which affected Greater Anglia’s morning peak services into London on Wednesday 2 January 2019.
Priti has previously expressed her concerns about the declining level of service and has questioned Greater Anglia and Network Rail over the actions taken to limit the impact of the disruption on passengers yesterday morning. Priti has also pressed the operators on their plans to improve the service and reduce the frequency of delays and cancellations caused by infrastructure failures such as track defects, signal faults and train faults.
Priti said:
“For a number of commuters, yesterday will have been their first day back to work after the Christmas period and this disruption, coupled with the rail fares increase, will leave a bitter taste for many passengers.
“When the railway line is regularly closed on the weekends for engineering and maintenance work, passengers are understandably questioning why infrastructure failures such as track defects and signal failures are an all too common occurrence and regularly delaying their journeys.
“New investment in the local railway is planned up to 2024 with £2.2 billion to be invested in maintenance and renewal, but passengers want to see action now. Commuters in my constituency are fed up with paying high prices for a deteriorating service and want to see some real improvements to their service urgently.
“I am pressing Greater Anglia and Network Rail over their responses to the disruption yesterday and how this can be improved. I have also questioned both over the immediate actions they will be implementing to improve train punctuality and reliability for passengers across the Anglia region.”