Following the postponement on a meeting with London Midland planned for today, Watford MP Richard Harrington has written to the company to demand answers and action in response to recent problems including cancelled services as a result of staff shortages. Richard has asked for a full investigation to all points raised by his constituents included in the letter. The full letter is here.
Nicola Moss
Head of Franchise Management
London Midland
20th November 2012
Dear Nicola,
As the meeting arranged for Wednesday 21st November has had to be postponed I felt it would be useful to write to you outlining the points that I would like to raise with regards to London Midland services. I would be grateful for a comprehensive response to these points ahead of our rearranged meeting next week.
As you are aware I have received a great deal of correspondence from individual constituents relaying both general points and individual cases. In this letter I will be writing about general points and will enclose further details on individual incidences for your consideration.
Cancellations Due to Staffing Shortages.
I have been very concerned about the extent of service cancellations arising from a shortage of staff. Whilst I appreciate your comments that this shortage has arisen due to a cross over between staff leaving and new staff completing their training, it does however suggest no provisions have been made to deal with such a situation and that the company was not properly equipped to deal with this.
It is my understanding that an annual level of cancellations is set that an operating company must operate at to maintain their franchise. I understand that this is set at 0.89% for this year, and taken as an annual average. Over the last 3 days alone cancellations have been around 3%. I do appreciate your argument that this has not been the case for the majority of the year such significant fluctuation is not acceptable to my constituents. Furthermore, figures show that between 2004 and 2010 London Midland have been the company with one of the, if not the, highest levels of cancellations across the board of franchise holders.
My constituents have been concerned that these staff shortages have been particularly concentrated on the Abbey Flyer section of the network. I would be grateful if you could confirm if it has been the case that the regular drivers for this route have been predominantly affected by shortages or if it is the case that a decision has been taken to secure staff from across the network onto other routes at the expense of the Abbey Flyer.
The impact that this is having on individuals and businesses that rely on these routes cannot be underestimated.
Changes to Services
I have been informed of cases where services have been reduced from 8 carriages to 4 carriages, particularly during rush hour periods. In previous meetings we have discussed that it is not possible to increase the number of carriages in some cases due to lengths of platforms and stations, however it seems implausible to reduce the number of carriages on a service that usually has 8. I would eb grateful if you could clarify why this has occurred on a number of services that travel between London Euston and Watford Junction in recent weeks.
I am also regularly informed of almost routine delays to services between Watford Junction and London Euston with some constituents informing me that there have been weeks where not one of their trains arrived on time.
Communication
There is a general consensus that the twitter feed for London Midland is very useful in updating people with information on services, however this service is limited in its reach. For those who do not have access to twitter or even the website information is very limited and in many cases I have heard reports of station staff being ill informed about changes to services and ill equipped to help.
Please can you inform me as to what steps you can take to provide better information at train stations and to staff.
Other
- · Whilst technical faults can and do happen, it has been reported that at times of technical failures London Midland services have been stopped or delayed whilst other services such as Virgin trains have continued through these lines.
- · Concerns have been raised about the lack of air conditioning on the trains which not only make services uncomfortable but possibly dangerous on very packed services
- · Please can you clarify what measures are in place to ensure that trains are not over capacity. When services are cancelled or delayed during rush hour, or the number of carriages are reduced, already busy services see as many as double the number of passages. There seem to be no measures in place to ensure that there are not dangerous levels of passengers on individual services
- · The ticket office at Kings Langley station is reportedly routinely understaffed or not open even during the busiest periods. It is often the case that tickets for next day travel cannot be purchased from the station until after 3pm the previous day and if there are problems at the station or in buying a ticket no help is available
These problems also come against a backdrop of incredibly high ticket prices, with the stretch between Watford Junction and London Euston being one of the highest pound per mile journey in the UK. My constituents are spending thousands of pounds a year on services that are routinely late or cancelled.
My constituents should not have to receive the level of service delivered by London Midland, nor pay such high prices for this. With almost half of all my constituents of working age commuting to and from London on a regular basis a good service is imperative. Recent and ongoing problems are having a significant impact on individuals as well as businesses, many of whom again rely on a good service for employees and clients.
I look forward to a thorough investigation into the points I have raised and a comprehensive response as to what actions will be taken to prevent future problems.
I would also ask that I am provided with information as to what percentage of services have been cancelled over the last year, what percentage of services from Watford Junction have been subject to delay in the last 12 months and how many cancelled services have been substituted with a rail replacement service.
Whilst my primary concern is the services that impact my constituency I understand from a number of colleagues that they too are extremely dissatisfied with services in their constituency and the way in which London Midland have been operating the franchise. I have also raised my concerns with the Department for Transport and the Secretary of State.
If this situation does not improve I feel I will have no option other than to call on the Secretary of State to use his discretion to call for a review of the franchise at the earliest date possible, which will be November 2013.
Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Yours sincerely
Richard Harrington MP