Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas plans to set out the complaints of Preston Park commuters in Parliament this morning (Tuesday 24 July).
The Green MP is due to open a House of Commons debate in Westminster Hall, with the Rail Minister Jo Johnson due to respond on behalf of the government.
She secured the debate because of what she described as “the chaos at Preston Park station where train services have been slashed by around 30 per cent at peak times”.
She said that she would tell Mr Johnson about the hundreds of constituents who have contacted her “literally at their wits’ end”.
Ms Lucas said that she had repeatedly raised the issue of cuts to services at the station “which have led to dangerous overcrowding, resulted in commuters fearing for their jobs and left parents unable to collect their children from school”.
Gatwick Express trains, which have called at Preston Park for 10 years, no longer stop there at all, she said.
And services that do stop now collect passengers at 11 other stations before reaching Preston Park – which means they are often full on arrival.
Ms Lucas said: “The line is also plagued by cancellations. Analysis shows that since (Monday) 16 July, some 63 per cent of Preston Park services were either delayed or cancelled.”
In spite of this, Mr Johnson wrote to Ms Lucas on Thursday 12 July suggesting that services from Preston Park to Victoria had improved, prompting her to describe the minister as “out of touch”.
Mr Johnson said: “Scheduled journey times have in fact improved since the timetable change, with the average morning peak journey time being around a minute quicker.”
Ms Lucas plans to tell Mr Johnson and fellow MPs: “This ongoing fiasco is leading to dangerous overcrowding and distress.
“Preston Park commuters are literally at their wits’ end and it was no surprise to me – given the daily messages of distress that fill my inbox – that in just five days, 1,098 people signed the petition I presented to the House of Commons last Tuesday calling for the restoration of services.
“I am here to explain, again, to the minister why his suggestion that Preston Park services to Victoria are more frequent and faster has gone down like a cup of cold sick with Preston Park commuters.
“Gatwick Express services must be reinstated at Preston Park and more trains need to start from Brighton and have enough carriages to meet demand.”
One constituent who wrote to the Brighton Pavilion MP said: “I commute from Preston Park to London Bridge … The trains are cancelled and delayed more than they run on time.
“I spend the (standing) journey fretting as I’m late for work. I spend the journey home fretting as my child has one parent – me – and I’m left stranded 70 miles away.”
Ms Lucas said that she would ask the Rail Minister to
- reinstate Gatwick Express trains
- ensure all trains to and from Preston Park have adequate capacity when passengers board
- ensure gaps in peak-time services are no longer than 15 minutes
- invest in the station
- provide trains fit for commuting
- answer a question from a constituent: “How do you expect people to be able to run lives, collect children, arrive for NHS, police, rail and other security shifts, be punctual for meetings, keep businesses viable?”
3 trains to Victoria and 3 to London Bridge at peak time is not a decimated service. A city suburb served by 6 trains an hour to London and a bus to Brighton station every 10 minutes has pretty amazing transport links by any definition.
Tom, I suggest you might be looking at a timetable, however the reality is that the private rail operator offers an appaling service at ridiculous prices.