Rail Meeting

10/09/2019

10 September 2019:

This morning I again met Directors from both South Western Railway and Network Rail.  From my own experience and from the hundreds of emails I receive I know rail service falls short far too often.  In our meeting we discussed:

  • Interventions after injuries or fatalities on the track
  • Recruitment – 120 newly qualified drivers and 160 more in training
  • More guards also in training
  • SWR and Network Rail – joint incident team now based at Waterloo not Basingstoke
  • New partnership between SWR and EE to improve on-board WiFi over 2 years
  • Performance in extreme conditions
  • Need for better real time information on station boards
  • Apps for up to date information: National Rail, Live Trains, South Western Railway
  • Rail Delivery Group published Rail Fares Explained – how is every rail fare £1 spent
  • Need for better information from SWR staff
  • Need to improve air conditioning on trains
  • Helpline vacancies filled so better query responses
  • Delay Repay claims paid much more quickly