Railway service is awful, says MP (From Worcester News)

Railway service is awful, says MP

11:59pm Wednesday 19th December 2007 in News By jack blanchard

WORCESTER MP Mike Foster has launched an attack on the "truly awful" train service between Worcester and London.

Mr Foster said he is "seething" about the service offered by First Great Western after a series of "nightmare" journeys between the city and the capital, the latest of which involved a two-hour taxi trip home after his already-delayed train was cancelled at Oxford.

Mr Foster has already complained to the Government's transport minister about the situation, and added that if there was no marked improvement in the service next year he would be lobbying for First Great Western to be stripped of its franchise.

He said: "The last few weeks in particular have been truly awful, and I've received numerous complaints about the service as well as being subjected to a series of nightmare journeys.

"It is simply unacceptable that trains breakdown with such regularity, arrive with nobody to drive them, or are cancelled for the convenience of the train company."

"How can we attract businesses to Worcester with such a poor service? How can passengers plan a journey faced with such uncertainties?

"First Great Western has got to improve its service in 2008. If it doesn't I will demand the franchise is taken off them, so that a company that can run a train service does so."

Mr Foster also has written to Andrew Haines, chief operating officer of First Great Western.

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "We put our hands up. Performance has not been good over the past few weeks. This is due to a number of problems, some of which are our fault and some out of our control.

"Often services are affected by problems way outside the Worcester area which have a knock-on effect. Parts of the line are single track and this exacerbates problems when they crop up.

"We're working hard to improve performance but it's far too simplistic to just blame the train operator."