Will Forster

Campaigning to be the Lib Dem MP for Woking, Deputy Leader of Woking Borough Council and Councillor in South Woking Learn more

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Lib Dem presents Bill to make it easier to sack failing rail companies

by willforster on 11 October, 2018

Yesterday, former Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron presented a Bill to the House of Commons which would make it significantly easier for the Government to strip failing rail companies of their franchises.

Tim Farron has repeatedly made the case for failing rail operators to be stripped of their franchise after a summer of chaos on the railways.  In his own Cambrian constituency, every single train on the Lakes Line was cancelled during the month of June.

The Bill comes less than a month after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) warned “no-one took charge” during the timetable chaos and blamed a lack of “responsibility and accountability”.

Needless to say, this is also a huge issue in Woking – the new South Western Railway franchise has been beset with problems since took over from South West Trains.

I know people across Woking are fed up with the shockingly poor performance of their train services by South Western Railway, as a regular commuter myself, so I am.  That is why I am fully behind Tim Farron’s Bill to strip rail firms of their franchises if they do not perform.

The Office of Rail and Road’s recent report found the main reason behind the summer of chaos on our railways was a lack of accountability.  The Lib Dems demand better.

This Bill would mean that the Transport Secretary would no longer be able to shy away from being ultimately responsible for making sure people have a decent train service.  It would also mean that there will actually be consequences for those companies who continue to provide diabolical services and treat their customers as nothing more than cattle.

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