Northampton South MP Brian Binley is again calling for action on what he calls the “raw deal” being suffered by the town’s rail passengers.
London Midland saw the biggest drop in overall customer satisfaction of any of the UK’s rail franchises in the latest National Passenger Survey, which was published last week.
Mr Binley has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, on the matter, and has sent a copy of the letter to London Midland managing director Patrick Verwer.
In the letter, Mr Binley, also the chairman of Northampton Rail Users Group, says: “I am sure I don’t need to draw your attention to the recent Passenger Focus report of the survey of passenger satisfaction.
“I am equally sure I don’t need to point out that London Midland was the one franchise out of all 23 which showed a significant decline in performance of 7 per cent from spring 2012 to spring 2013.
“When we look more carefully at the details of the survey it is noticeable that punctuality/reliability issues, which of course are about trains arriving and departing on time, showed a decline of 12 per cent.
“Furthermore, sufficient room for passenger’s to sit or stand, showed a decline of 8 per cent and how well the train company dealt with delays showed a massive decline of 17 per cent.
“Clearly decline in the attitude of customers to these important areas of service provision follows on from a number of concerns highlighted over recent years which suggests that this former bus company is struggling to operate a modern railway. Indeed, whispers from middle management suggest that senior management seems to know little about the intricacies of rail services.
“I do not know whether London Midland are suffering from financial problems, management difficulties or staff relations issues but I do know that rail users in Northampton are getting a raw deal from a train company which consistently fails to meet its agreed performance standards.
“I know that you have talked with senior management on a number of occasions, but the situation is becoming ever more serious and I would urge you to take action to ensure that the town I represent has the rail service it requires to provide the housing expansion and the successful creation of an enterprise zone which the Government expects of it. The town is rising to those challenges successfully. Sadly, its rail service provider is failing them in that respect.
“I look forward to your response which hopefully will provide encouragement to Northampton and its citizens with regard to the provision of rail services for the town.”
A London Midland spokesman said, “We will, of course, respond to the points raised by Mr Binley and look forward to meeting with him at the earliest opportunity. The recent National Passenger Survey results represent a time when performance was at an unprecedented low and passengers have every right to be critical. We have, and continue to, take action on performance and have seen an improvement since March, with punctuality during April at its highest level in almost a year.
“However, we know that there is still a lot more for us to do to rebuild confidence with our passengers and we are completely focused on doing this over the coming months.”