Witham MP holds Greater Anglia and Network Rail to account over rail disruption
Witham MP, Priti Patel, has held Greater Anglia and Network Rail to account over the disruption experienced by passengers at London Liverpool Street this week.
Owing to a crack in a bespoke piece of track outside London Liverpool Street, Greater Anglia has been unable to run any services in and out of Platforms 11 and 12, limiting the number of services that can be run to and from the station.
Ms Patel has urged Network Rail to permanently fix the track as a matter of urgency and has called on Greater Anglia to ensure that passengers are compensated properly for the disruption they have experienced.
Ms Patel said:
“This week, my constituents have experienced severe delays and cancellations, as well as dangerous overcrowding on trains and platforms as a result of the heavily reduced service.
“Passengers have been paying the full fare for tickets, but have not been receiving the level of service expected. Trains have been short-formed and journeys have not been completed in full, meaning passengers have had to pay for alternative modes of transport to complete their journey. I have urged Greater Anglia to ensure that passengers are properly compensated for the disruption they have experienced this week.
“I have been advised that a temporary fix should be in place within the next few days to enable a full service to resume and operate normally. However, it is unacceptable that Network Rail will not be permanently fixing this defect until October as there is no guarantee that the issues experienced this week will not happen again before this piece of track is replaced. My constituents must not experience a further four months of disruption and I have urged Network Rail to urgently replace this piece of track and have asked what they will do to ensure the disruption seen this week will not happen again before the track is replaced.”
PDF: 2018-06-14 Letter to Greater Anglia RE. Track Defect at London Liverpool Street
PDF: 2018-06-14 Letter to Network Rail RE. Track Defect at London Liverpool Street