Theresa May MP held a debate on the state of the train service for Maidenhead and Twyford in the House of Commons on 18 January. During the debate the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Tom Harris MP, admitted that FGW must listen to their passengers and add more services to the Government’s minimum level specification.
Theresa explains, ‘The debate meant I could tell the Minister face to face how bad our trains are and explain the problems for local people.
‘The Minister was quite clear that FGW are delivering performance “below the national level”. He also made it clear that the service specification set by the Government is a minimum and that FGW should add value to these specifications after listening to the needs of their customers.
‘That flies in the face of claims by FGW that they are simply having to deliver the service specification given by Government.
‘The Minister’s statement that he looks “to First Great Western, to listen to its passengers and stakeholders and to make changes to meet their needs” gives a pretty clear message to FGW – do something about the problem!
‘The ball is now in FGW’s court. Despite saying there were no carriages available to improve services they’ve miraculously found some for the Bristol area so they’d better find some more for Maidenhead and Twyford services and give us the trains people need.
‘We don’t want excuses and we don’t want changes that make life better somewhere else down the line but don’t help Maidenhead and Twyford. We want action to make life better for local passengers.”
