Local MP Maria Miller has joined forces with other Members of Parliament who represent constituents who use South Western Railway Services to form the first All Party Parliamentary Group on South Western Trains. The group which includes more than 20 other MPs including Hampshire’s Steve Brine, Flick Drummond and Damien Hinds has been established to ensure rail company bosses are aware and act on the concerns of rail passengers right across the SWR network. The group will shortly meet rail company bosses to communicate the importance of improving service reliability and stopping further strike action which caused so many unnecessary problems for commuters in December.
Maria said, “In Basingstoke we are fortunate to have excellent rail links both into London and across the country but those services are only as good as the rail operators.
“The number of regular commuters is increasing in Basingstoke with people seeing our part of North Hampshire as a great place to live and then commute to work in London, Reading, Swindon and beyond. Everyone needs to know that the service is reliable and that plans set out in the Wessex Route Plan are being taken forward to increase capacity in the future.
“I meet local commuters to hear feedback direct and to enable people who use the trains to meet those who run them. If you would like to join our next meeting, please do get in touch.”