Mp slams local train delays

David Laws, the Lib Dem MP for Yeovil constituency, is today releasing the latest train delay figures produced by the Strategic Rail Authority. The figures show that South West Trains has the worst punctuality record out of the 10 franchises in London & the South East. The figures show that, between October and December 2001 over 40% of SouthWest trains’ services were delayed

David Laws MP said:

“These figures are completely unsatisfactory – demonstrating that 1 train in 3 has been running late in our area. I was very disappointed to find out that not only is SouthWest Trains the least punctual franchise in the South, but that train delays have continued to get worse. For instance, over the period of July to September 72% of trains were on time. However, from October to December this actually dropped to 60% of trains. We now seem to have sunk to a new low with more than a third of services running late in the most recent reporting period.

“The deterioration in the SouthWest Trains peak time service is even worse. This fell from a punctuality rate of 74% for the period July-September to a miserable 54% in October to December. This is a massive drop of 20% in 3 months. It seems that following the problems with Railtrack train delays have got much worse.

“Passengers are fed up with delays which make it impossible to plan a journey with any degree of reliability. SouthWest Trains must improve their performance, while the Government and the Strategic Rail Authority need to invest a lot more money in a better rail infrastructure.”

Category: MP Press Releases