'Cancelled trains, lack of seats and fewer peak services'

Councillors want MPs and train operators to recognise that “the rail industry is failing to look after the interests of Hertfordshire residents and businesses” amid ongoing changes.

At an ‘extraordinary meeting’ of the council on Tuesday – as the chaos surrounding timetable changes continued – they passed a motion highlighting some of the issues.

“The County Council is deeply concerned the rail industry is failing to look after the interests of Hertfordshire residents and businesses in the implementation of the Thameslink programme and the Rail Plan 20/20, ” the motion begins.

It notes that the Council supports continuing engagement with the rail industry, the Department for Transport and local MPs to ensure the interests of Hertfordshire residents remain paramount.

According to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Rail Plan 20/20 is the biggest transformation of the UK rail network in decades.

The company says that the changes – which include an additional 400 trains a day –  will create additional space for 40,000 more passengers into London at peak times. And they say it will mean simpler and more reliable journeys.

But councillors say the implementation of the Thameslink programme and Rail Plan 20/20  is actually having a negative impact in Hertfordshire.

In highlighting a number of specific issues, the motion points to a reduction in services to Brookmans Park and Welham Green, a lack of direct connections from North Hertfordshire to Peterborough and fewer peak-time trains between North Hertfordshire and London.

It highlights the postponement of the fifth platform at Stevenage Rail Station – leading to a bus replacement service between the town and Hertford.

It points to reduced seating capacity on services to Moorgate from Hertford and Welwyn Garden City, following the introduction of new trains – as well as the failure of the new trains to include wi-fi, plug sockets and seat back tables.

It also highlights the current disruption caused by the “failure” to properly plan the introduction of new timetables.

Introducing the motion Cllr Derrick Ashley, the County Council’s executive member for environment, planning and transport, said: “Its our responsibility to represent the needs of the travelling public.

“This recommendation is to highlight what I think are the key issues of concern in Hertfordshire, particularly for people using the Thameslink and GTR networks.”

Labour councillor Judi Billing said commuting had become “considerably worse”.

“I used to be a daily train commuter to London,” said Cllr Billing. “Sometimes I have to travel there in rush hour – and I am immensely grateful that I only do it on an occasional basis. It has clearly got considerably worse over the last several years.”

Councillors highlighted to the high number of cancelled and delayed trains that had been recorded this week.

Cllr Teresa Heritage said some families were having to change the way they worked because the train services no longer matched their childcare arrangements.

Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Jarvis said the provision of rail services was about more than the number of trains.

He said: “They claim to be providing additional services, but they are not providing additional services at times their customers want them.

“The need is to provide trains with sufficient capacity at times when people need to travel. That’s what they have failed to do. They have failed to understand the needs of the people who use their service.”

Cllr Jarvis also pointed to failures of Network Rail, pointing to their failure to build the fifth platform at Stevenage, and the Department for Transport.