Letter from Nigel Waterson to Lord Adonis

[luked...@googlemail.com]

Dear Commuters,

Nigel has asked me to make public this letter he sent to Lord Adonis
concerning the poor level of service East Coastway Commuters are
having to endure. If anyone has any questions or suggestions after
reading this letter, please do contact us. Nigel is keen for you to
know that he is fully committed to the cause and will not hesitate to
apply all the pressure he can in order to get you, (and, indeed, him!)
the service that you are paying for.

Please find the letter below.



Lord Adonis
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR NW/slg





RAIL SERVICES BETWEEN EASTBOURNE & LONDON

I chaired a meeting in late December of constituents who were (and
still are) angry about the state of the train services between
Eastbourne and surrounding areas and London stations. Perhaps I could
summarise their complaints under several headings:

1. The depressingly poor punctuality in recent months.
2. The new timetable introduced from 14th December; in particular, the
changes in trains from London Bridge in the evening.
3. The lack of capacity on our line, compared to the six extra trains
available to and from Brighton.
4. The higher cost of season tickets from Eastbourne compared to those
available for commuters from Brighton.

As I understand the position, the discussions about the next timetable
taking effect in December this year should be starting soon. Can you
explain how my constituents and I can have some say in those
discussions?

Can you tell me what measures you and/or the Regulator have been
taking to improve punctuality for commuters to and from Eastbourne?

Bizarrely, the Route Utilisation Strategy for Brighton was completed
before the forthcoming RUS for our line. This seems to have produced
a result whereby Brighton commuters are far better served not only in
terms of frequency and fares, but also in terms of capacity in terms
of the rolling stock deployed. How can we tackle this apparent
unfairness? I think we can accept that there will be numerically more
people travelling between Brighton and London than between Eastbourne
and London; however, it does seem that as a result of the RUS there is
over provision for Brighton travellers.

According to the operators Southern, the underlying nature of the
service is based on the “Service Specification” which is a matter for
the Department. Presumably, this also forms the basis of the ongoing
tender process for the next franchise. I would be grateful if you
could indicate in what ways we can influence any changes in the
service specification for services between Eastbourne and London, and
what timescale would be possible for this?

I look forward to hearing from you.






NIGEL WATERSON
Member of Parliament for Eastbourne, Willingdon & East Dean

[gerryz2]

Do we know if Niget Waterson got a reply from Adonis. I have written
to him as well but haven't heard back yet
#

On Mar 17, 5:46 pm, "lukedp2...@googlemail.com"