I am writing to you today to ask you to consider re-tendering the Great Eastern Mainline railway franchise and strip Abellio Greater Anglia (AGA) of their control of the franchise. I am one of many disgruntled passengers who would like a different company to take over, a responsible company, a company who takes pride in their trains and a company who strives to provide a punctual and reliable service.
As you may be aware, Chloe Smith organised a meeting between MPs, high ranking managers from AGA and railway passengers on Monday 7th July 2014 at 6pm at Portcullis House. Along with 5 other commuters who regularly use AGA's services, I attended this meeting. The purpose of this meeting was for the commuters to air our complaints and concerns directly with MPs and the managers present, which included their Managing Director, Jamie Burles.
Points raised during the meeting included:
The number of reoccurring and daily train faults, which is due to the ageing rolling stock used by AGA and lack of proper maintenance.
Train toilets - dumping human waste on tracks within stations and between them sometimes spraying over staff working on track side, overflowing being put out of use as a result, general odour from them.
General train cleanliness and upkeep - exteriors and interiors are always dirty, carpets and seats are often dirty and threadbare, stains on carpets having been reported and not cleaned for months on end (one example, I reported on 14/2/14, it was reported by someone else on 1/7/14, and it was still there this evening (16/7/14) when I boarded the train)
Faster trains between Liverpool Street and Norwich.
More investment in the network generally (more aimed at Network Rail side of things) including electrification, signals, level crossings, overhead power cables, etc not breaking down so often. (A manager from Network Rail was also present)
Mr Burles admitted, during the meeting, that the service they provide was no where near good enough, this was in reference to train faults, maintenance, train cleanliness and delays caused by things they had control of. He also assured us he would improve these things.
Yet every day since there has continued to be daily train faults on multiple trains and carriages causing delays and short formed trains, both of which cause inconvenience for commuters, being late for work and/or being crammed into smaller spaces. Cleanliness has also not changed, trains I use to get home from Chelmsford to Shenfield are always littered with copies of the Evening Standard, amongst other things, not to mention stains on carpets which have been there for at least 5 months. Toilets are still dumping on tracks and smell unpleasant.
As the Minister for Transport, I ask you, please re-tender the Great Eastern Mainline Franchise, to a far more responsible company than AGA. Please also get the DfT to invest in the infrastructure of the Great Eastern Mainline. Please also make it a requirement in the new franchise to replace all the aged trains and to maintain the current rolling stock properly all the time the franchise holder still operates them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail. I look forward to your response and possible action.
Kind Regards,
Daniel Collins
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