PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP
TUESDAY 12th NOVEMBER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, in the House of Commons this week secured a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh to discuss the poor service offered by Thameslink.
Mr Strathern rose during a session on Rail Performance to highlight the poor reliability of local rail services, with delays and cancellations an all-too-common feature for his constituents when commuting.
While the Government has acted to end the national rain strikes and started the process to take direct control of our railways again, Mr Strathern highlighted that local passengers shouldn’t have to wait for Great British Rail to see improvements.
One month ago, Mr Strathern met Thameslink’s CEO and senior management to put questions to them from constituents and challenge them to make improvements.
In his meeting with the Transportation Secretary, he will be asking how the Department for Transport can push Thameslink to provide badly-needed improvements in the reliability of services to Hitchin and Arlesey services.
Mr Strathern said:
“Commuters at Arlesey and Hitchen stations in my constituency are driven to despair by the shocking state of Thameslink services, with delays and cancellations an all too frequent feature of everyday commutes.
“Thameslink must do right for their customers and reduce disruption.
“I look forward to meeting with the Transportation Secretary to discuss how we make progress on this, and how we ensure a smooth transition into public ownership for Thameslink.”
Notes for Editors:
You can see a clip of Mr Strathern requesting a meeting here.
You can see a Hansard transcript here.
In 2025, when Thameslink’s contract expires to run services, a new Government-entity called Great British Railways will take over operation of the line.
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